Method for diagnosing onset and maturity of infections

摘要

An assay method for determining if a cell is both an HIV-1 infected cell and a competent antigen presenting cell is described. The process comprises contacting the cell with a peptide and a T cell clone specific for the peptide; wherein if the cell is both an HIV-1 infected cell and a competent antigen presenting cell the T cell clone produces a detectable immune response.