PATENT ABSTRACTS

The fermentation of a substrate selected among erythronolide B, erythronolide A and erythrono- lide A oxime with a novel mutant, Streptomyces antibioticus ATCC 31771, obtained from an industrial stock for the production of olean- domycin, said novel mutant being incapable of producing the same oleandomycin, permits novel macrolide antibiotics to be produced. having not only an activity range like that of erythromycin, but characterized by a greater stability in acidic environment, whereby for the administration of the antibiotic it is no longer necessary to have recourse to esters and/or salts highly toxic for the organism.

4562160

M E L A N O M A T U M O R A N T I G E N A N D A U T O L O G O U S A N T I B O D Y

Francisco X Real, M Jule Mattes, Alan N Houghton, Philip O Livingston, Kenneth Lloyd, Herbert Oettgen, Lloyd J Old assigned to Sloan- Kettering Institute

The present invention concerns novel immuno- precipitating autologous antibodies which recognize the Class 1 gpg0 antigen on melanoma cells. These antibodies, optionally tagged with a chromophoric or radioactive label and im- mobilized on an inert support, may be used to recognize and isolate the gp90 antigen from melanoma cell extracts. Monoclonal antibodies to melanoma may be screened with the gp90 antigen for those which recognize epitopes other than the FD antigenic system. The cell line con- taining the gp90 antigen which has been cultured in vitro is a source of gp90 antigen for generation of monoclonal antibodies which will be useful in analyzing the gp90 antigen for those epitopes which may be of diagnostic value in immuno- assay of melanoma.

181

tures in that order. Although the cultures may be grown under conditions ranging from total dar- kness to total light, steroidal glycoside produc- tion was highest in root-cell cultures grown continuously in the light as compared to those grown in the dark. Root-cell culture senescence also enhanced the yield of total steroidal glycosides. Steroids are obtained from the steroidal glycosides by acid hydrolysis to remove the sugar moieties. The production of radio- labeled steroids and steroidal glycosides is dis- closed.

4 5 6 3 ~ 3

M E T H O D F O R P U R I F I C A T I O N O F F I L A M E N T O U S ' H E M A G G L U T I N I N

Akihiro Ginnaga, Shin Sakuma, Tsukasa Nishihara, Tomitaka Tashiro, Sadao Susumi, Tetsuo Kawahara. Hiroshi Mizokami. Kumamoto, Japan assigned to Judicial Founda- tion The Chemosero-Therapeutic Research In- stitute

Improved method for the purification of filamentous hemagglutinin (F-HA) on industrial scale which comprises contacting a culture of a microorganism of the genus Bordetella with a cellulose sulfate gel, a polysaccharide gel chem- ically bound with dextran sulfate, or a cross- linked polysaccharide sulfate gel, thereby adsorbing F-HA on the gel, and then eluting F- HA from the gel. Said method can give a highly purified F-HA which does not contain any other proteins, lipid, saccharides, etc. and further un- desirable endotoxin, and hence can be used for producing various reagents, medicines and per- tussis vaccine.

4562250

S T E R O I D A L G L Y C O S I D E S P R O D U C E D BY Y U C C A T I S S U E

C U L T U R E

E John Staba, Jean J MacCarthy assigned to Re- gents of the University of Minnesota

Methods for the production of steroids (sapogenins) and steroidal glycosides (saponins) from cell, root-cell and shoot tissue cultures of the Yucca plant. The cultures were established and maintained in a suitable nutrient plant cell medium supplemented with growth regulators. The desired products are extracted from the cul- tures using conventional extraction techniques. Greater total production of steroidal glycosides occurred in root-cell, cell, and shoot tissue cul-

4563423

P R O D U C T S D I S P L A Y I N G T H E A N T I G E N I C I T Y O F H E P A T I T I S B

V I R U S E A N T I G E N S A N D M E T H O D S O F P R O D U C I N G

T H O S E A N T I G E N S

Kenneth Murray, Patricia MacKay. Heidelberg, Federal Republic Of Germany assigned to Bio- g e n N V

Polypeptides displaying the antigenicity of hepatitis B virus e antigens, DNA sequences coding for those polypeptides, antibodies to those polypeptides and methods of producing and using those polypeptides, antibodies and DNA sequences. The polypeptides and anti-

182 PATENT ABSTRACTS

bodies of this invention are characterized by their use in compositions and methods for detec- ting hepatitis B virus infective carriers and in evaluating the course of H BV-related active liver disease.

bound to a polypeptide fragment of EGF recep- tor. DNA and RNA encoding EGF receptor or fragments thereof are also decribed.

8503508

4563462

S U B S T A N C E AX-2, A P R O C E S S F O R P R O D U C I N G T H E S A M E

A N D A N A N T I T U M O R C O M P O S I T I O N C O N T A I N I N G

T H E S A M E

Shinzo Ishii, Shigeo Katsumata, Yuko Arai, Tadashi Ashizawa, Makoto Morimoto, Kunikatsu Shirahata, Yutaka Saito, Motomichi Kono, Shizuoka, Japan assigned to Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Kabushiki

A substance designated by us as AX-2 and represented by the formula: See Patent for Chemical Structure This substance is produced by culturing a microorganism of the genus Strew tomyces and capable of producing AX-2 in a medium to accumulate AX-2 in the cultured broth and isolating AX-2 therefrom. An anti- tumor composition comprising an effective amount of AX-2 in association with a phys- iologically acceptable carrier or excipient, which is active against Sarcoma 180.

T O X I N C O N J U G A T E S

Lawrence I GREENFIELD, Danute E N1TECKI, Donald A KAPLAN, David H GELFAND, Michael PIATAK, Glenn HORN assigned to CETUS CORPORATION

Toxin conjugates for selective destruction of tar- get cells. Some embodiments employ spacer pep- tides between the cytotoxic and binding regions of the conjugates to facilitate translocation and intracellular cleavage after binding to the target cell. Components of the conjugate toxins ob- tained by recombinant techniques are also described. These components include the spacer peptide and portions of diphtheria toxins and of ricin toxins.

8503523

M O N O C L O N A L A N T I - H U M A N B R E A S T C A N C E R A N T I B O D I E S

Arthur E FRANKEL, David B RING, Michael J BJORN assigned to CETUS CORPORA- TION

8503357

I M P R O V E M E N T S R E L A T I N G T O G R O W T H F A C T O R S

Michael D WATERFIELD, J SCHLES- SINGER, Axel ULLRlCH, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, P.O. Box 123, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, United Kingdom assigned to ICRF PATENTS LTD; YEDA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CO LTD; GENENTECH INC

Neoplastic and other diseases can be diagnosed by assaying a human test sample e.g. body fluid, tissue or cultured tumour explant cells, for struc- turally altered or abnormally expressed growth factor receptors or for the nRNA transcripts of genes which encode them, For example, the as- say can be for truncated EGF receptor having at least a portion of its mature amino terminus deleted. Antibodies, capable of binding a pre- determined amino acid sequence within the EGF receptor, are also useful in diagnosis and therapy as are conjugates of an immunogenic polymer

Murine monoclonal antibodies are prepared and characterized which bind selectively to human breast cancer cells, are IgGs or IgMs, and when conjugated to ricin A chain, exhibit a TCID 50% against at least one of MCF-7, CAMA-1, SKBR-3, or BT-20 cells of less than about 10nM, Methods for diagnosing, monitoring, and treating human breast cancer with the antibodies or immunotoxins made therefrom are described.

8503640

L I P O S O M E - G E L C O M P O S I T I O N S

Mircea C POPESCU, Alan L WEINER, Sharon S CARPENTER-GREEN assigned to THE LIPOSOME COMPANY INC;

Compositions and methods for maintaining reservoirs of bioactive agents by sequestering the reservoir in a gel matrix. In particular, liposomes containing an entrapped bioactive agent are sequestered in a gel matrix. The resulting liposome-gel compositions may be used in vivo