PRODUCTION OF HIV GP-120 PROTEIN

THE TERMINAL NATURE OF HIV INFECTIONS HAS PROMPTED DEMANDS FOR LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIV PROTEINS FOR RESEARCH RELATED TO UNDERSTANDING THE VIRUS AND DEVELOPING THERAPEUTIC TREATMENTS. VERAX CORPORATION HAS DEVELOPED A UNIQUE SYSTEMFOR THE MASS CULTURE OF MAMMALIAN CELLS IN A CONTINUOUS FLUIDIZED BED SYSTEM. THE HEART OF THE TECHNOLOGY IS THE MICROSPHERE, A COLLAGEN-BASED MICROCARRIER THAT PERMITS CELL POPULATION DENSITIES IN EXCESS OF 10(8) CELLS/ML. THIS SYSTEM HAS ALREADY BEEN SUCCESSFULLY USED FOR THE LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF SEVERAL PROTEIN THERAPEUTICS. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TWOFOLD. FIRST, IT IS PLANNED TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF MICROSPHERES AS A SUBSTRATE FOR THE GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF THE HIV-1 GP-120 PROTEIN BY A GENETICALLY ENGINEERED HELA CELL. THE GOAL OF THIS PORTION OF THE PROJECT IS TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF USING THIS SYSTEM FOR GP-120 PRODUCTION AND TO OPTIMIZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MATRIX TO PERMIT MAXIMUM CELL DENSITYAND PRODUCTIVITY. SECOND, A CONTINUOUS CULTURE MICROREACTORWILL BE DEVELOPED FOR USE WITH MICROSPHERES. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH A SYSTEM IS ESSENTIAL TO CONDUCTING THIS RESEARCH BECAUSE OF THE INADEQUACY OF OTHER SMALL-SCALEBIOREACTORS FOR CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON MICROSPHERES. IT MAYALSO PERMIT INEXPENSIVE LABORATORY-SCALE PRODUCTION OF THE GP-120 AND OTHER HIV PROTEINS.