Recombinant antigen pp65 from Cytomegalovirus

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpes viral genus of the Herpesviruses group: in humans it is commonly known as HCMV or Human herpesvirus 5 (HHV-5). HCMV infection is widespread in developing countries and in communities with lower socioeconomic status and represents the most significant viral cause of birth defects in industrialized countries. CMV-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) is a sensitive and specific indicator of active or recent CMV infection, while it is very often produced during viral reactivation in immunocompromised individuals. pp65 (UL83) is a phosphoprotein located in the nucleolar matrix of lytically infected fibroblasts. This tegument protein pp65 was found to be most prominent at early times after HCMV infection.