Western Blot Activity

For this specific diagnostic test, HIV infected cells are lysed, subjected to SDS-PAGE and blotted onto a membrane as described above. The membrane was blocked, cut into strips and incubated with the serum samples from each patient as indicated. Please interpret the results and choose the best answer to the questions.

Background information on the HIV Western blot test.

In 1987 the Centers for Disease Control along with several other organizations established criteria for serologic interpretation of HIV Western blot tests. The criteria are listed below.

Band pattern Interpretation

No bands present	Bands at either p31 OR p24 AND bands present at either gp160 OR gp120	Bands present, but pattern does not meet criteria for positivity
Negative	Positive	Indeterminate

Lane 1, HIV+ serum (positive control)
Lane 2, HIV- serum (negative control)
Lane A, Patient A
Lane B, Patient B
Lane C, Patient C

p24	p31	gp160	gp120
viralcore protein (gag)	Reverse Transcriptase (pol)	viral envelope precusor (env)	viral envelope protein (env) binds to CD4

Immunological Techniques
University of Arizona
Monday, October 6, 2008
douglas.lake@asu.edu