Cook R F, Cook S J, Issel C J
Gluck Equine Research Center, Dept. of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40546-0099.
Biotechniques. 1992 Sep;13(3):380-6.
A nonradioactive micro-assay procedure for detection of released reverse transcriptase activity from cells infected with equine infectious anemia virus is described. This procedure utilizes biotinylated-dUTP in conjunction with a streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase conjugate. Detection of alkaline phosphatase is by autoradiography of the chemiluminescence produced during enzymatic dephosphorylation of Lumi Phos 530. This method, as with reverse transcriptase micro-assays employing 32P-labeled nucleotides, is suited to the processing of numerous samples, while having the advantages of safety and stability normally associated with nonradioactive methods of detection. Sensitivity is comparable to a reverse transcriptase micro-assay using 32P-dTTP.