IN THIS PROJECT, GENE LABS, INC.

IN THIS PROJECT, GENE LABS, INC. WILL PRODUCE AND CHARACTERIZE HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO HTLV-III, THE HUMAN RETROVIRUS ASSOCIATED WITH AIDS AND A SPECTRUM OF RELATED SYNDROMES. GENE LABS HAS SUCCESSFULLY USED THE SBC-H20 HETEROMYELOMA CELL LINE AS THE FUSION PARTNER FOR THE GENERATION OF SEVERAL STABLE, IMMUNOGLOBULIN-SECRETING HUMAN B CELL HYBRIDOMAS, INCLUDING ONE DIRECTED AGAINST AN HTLV-III SPECIFIC ANTIGEN. THE VIRAL ANTIGEN SPECIFICITY OFSTABLE ELISA REACTIVE SUBCLONES WILL BE CONFIRMED BY TECHNIQUES INCLUDING IMMUNOPRECIPITATION, WESTERN BLOTTING, AND IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE. THE BINDING CONSTANTS OF THE ANTIBODIES PRODUCED WILL ALSO BE ASSESSED. FINALLY, AS AN OUTGROWTH OF WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE COURSE OF THIS PHASE IPROJECT, RESEARCHERS WILL PERFORM FINE SPECIFICITY MAPPING OF THESE ANTIBODIES, CHARACTERIZE THEIR BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS IN PHASE II WORK. THE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTION OF A SERIES OF HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES DIRECTED AGAINST THE VARIOUS HTLV-III PROTEINS WILL ALLOW AN IN VITRO ASSESSMENT OF THEIRBIOLOGICAL EFFECTS IN A SEARCH FOR THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY.