Anita Hamilton

A Humanized Antibody against Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) gpUL75 (gH) for Prophylaxis or Treatment of CMV Infections

A humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the 86-kDa glycoprotein, gpUL75 (gH), of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been developed. The six complementarity determining regions of the heavy and light chains of the mouse antibody HCMV16 were transferred to human antibody framework sequences and combined with human antibody constant regions to produce a complete antibody. The reshaped antibody recognized cells infected with a variety of virus strains and neutralized clinical isolates of CMV as efficiently as laboratory strains in a conventional plaque reduction assay. This antibody provides a potential agent for the prevention or treatment of CMV infections in humans.

Expression of Foreign Genes in Mammalian Cells Using an Antibody Fusion System

Whereas the expression of foreign genes in mammalian cells usually proves successful, the purification of gene products is often a difficult and time-consuming process. The availability of monoclonal antibodies to the foreign protein can greatly assist in small scale purification, but where antibodies are not available, alternatives have to be sought One useful approach involves the fusion of the foreign gene adjacent to a gene segment encoding an antibody heavy chain variable region (1). By transfection of this construct into a cell line producing a compatible light chain or by cotransfection of the fusion product with a light chain gene, an antibody-like molecule can be produced and purified using the corresponding antigen.Whereas the expression of foreign genes in mammalian cells usually proves successful, the purification of gene products is often a difficult and time-consuming process. The availability of monoclonal antibodies to the foreign protein can greatly assist in small scale purification, but where antibodies are not available, alternatives have to be sought One useful approach involves the fusion of the foreign gene adjacent to a gene segment encoding an antibody heavy chain variable region (1). By transfection of this construct into a cell line producing a compatible light chain or by cotransfection of the fusion product with a light chain gene, an antibody-like molecule can be produced and purified using the corresponding antigen.