Monoclonal antibodies which neutralize HIV-1 through reaction with a conformational epitope in vitro

• Main Authors: FUNG; MICHAEL S. C, SUN; BILL N. C, SUN; CECILY R. Y
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 14.09.1993
• Subjects: BEER; BIOCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; CULTURE MEDIA; ENZYMOLOGY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; METALLURGY; MICROBIOLOGY; MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; ORGANIC CHEMISTRY; PEPTIDES; PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR TOILET PURPOSES; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; SPIRITS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ARTCOLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; VINEGAR; WINE

The monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) of the invention bind to a neutralizing epitope on the gp120 glycoprotein of HIV-1. The binding seems to be conformation-dependent, in the sense that altering the conformation of gp120 (by deglycosylating the gp120, by reducing the cysteine bonds in the peptide backbone) will inhibit the binding. The mAbs of the invention are group specific and can neutralize different strains and different isolates of HIV-1. The binding of these mAbs to gp120 is enhanced by the binding of other antibodies to the principal neutralizing determinant (amino acid residue numbers 296-331) of gp120.