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Antibody therapy holds great promise for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and viral infections. Murine monoclonal antibodies are relatively easy to produce but are severely restricted for therapeutic use by their immunogenicity in humans. Production of human monoclonal antibodies has been problematic. Humanized antibodies can be generated by introducing the six hypervariable regions from the heavy and light chains of a murine antibody into a human framework sequence and combining it with human constant regions. We humanized, with the aid of computer modeling, two murine monoclonal antibodies against herpes simplex virus gB and gD glycoproteins. The binding, virus neutralization, and cell protection results all indicate that both humanized antibodies have retained the binding activities and the biological properties of the murine monoclonal antibodies.

A cell-surface receptor for the mammalian reovirus type 3 hemagglutinin was isolated by using antiidiotypic anti-receptor antibodies. The receptor is a glycoprotein with a molecular mass of 67,000 daltons and a pI of 5.9. Evidence that the isolated structure represents the reovirus receptor was obtained by electrophoretic immunoblot studies, which demonstrated that the 67,000-dalton glycoprotein is the only cell-surface structure recognized by both reovirus type 3 and the anti-receptor immunoglobulin. Comparison of the reovirus receptor on murine thymoma (R1.1) and rat neuroblastoma (B104) cells indicated that similar structures on the cell surface are recognized by the reovirus type 3 and the anti-receptor antibodies as previously suggested from cellular and binding studies. This receptor was found on mouse, rat, monkey, and human cells. Furthermore, diverse tissue types, including lymphoid and neuronal cells, express the receptor structure. The receptor structure is discussed in terms of its role in mediating viral tropism and as an essential cell-surface protein.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been used to study the dimeric iron center in azidomethemerythrin from Phascolopsis gouldii. Absorption edge data confirm that the two iron atoms are present as Fe(III) and suggest a hexa-coordination site for each of the iron atoms. The extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis provides direct structural evidence of a mu-oxo bridge between the two iron atoms at an average Fe-O distance of 1.71-1.76 A. Analysis using a multiple-scattering formalism calculates upper limits of 165 degrees for the Fe-O-Fe bridging angle and 3.38 A for the Fe-Fe distance. This result agrees with current crystallographic models being determined by refinement of structures of two azidomethemerythrins.

The monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody (mAb2) 87.92.6 directed against the 9B.G5 antibody specific for the virus neutralizing epitope on the mammalian reovirus type 3 hemagglutinin was previously demonstrated to express an internal image of the receptor binding epitope of the reovirus type 3. Furthermore, this mAb2 has autoimmune reactivity to the cell surface receptor of the reovirus. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the 87.92.6 mAb2 heavy and light chains are described in this report. The sequence analysis reveals that the same heavy chain variable and joining (VH and JH) gene segments are used by the 87.92.6 anti-idiotypic mAb2 and by the dominant idiotypes of the BALB/c anti-GAT (cGAT) and anti-NP (NPa) responses. [GAT; random polymer that is 60% glutamic acid, 30% alanine, and 10% tyrosine. NP; (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)-acetyl.] Despite extensive homology at the level of the heavy chain variable regions, the NPa positive BALB/c anti-NP monoclonal antibody 17.2.25 binds neither 9B.G5 nor the cellular receptor for the hemagglutinin. Amino acid sequence comparison between the viral hemagglutinin and the 87.92.6 mAb2 light chain "internal image," reveals an area of significant homology indicating that antigen mimicry by antibodies may be achieved by sharing primary structure.

The mechanism by which viruses bind to and infect specific tissues to cause disease has only recently begun to be understood. The mammalian reoviruses provide an especially attractive model for studying the details of cell surface recognition. The cell and tissue tropism of reovirus is determined by a portion of the viral hemagglutinin termed the neutralization domain. We have reported previously on the generation of both monoclonal and polyclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies that mimic the viral hemagglutinin in the specificity of binding to the reovirus receptor. By using these anti-idiotypic antibodies as specific probes, we have successfully isolated the mammalian reovirus receptor from neuronal and lymphoid cells. In the present study, we report that the reovirus receptor is structurally similar to the mammalian beta-adrenergic receptor. This conclusion is based on the following observations: (i) purified beta-adrenergic receptor is immunoprecipitable by anti-reovirus receptor antibody; (ii) purified reovirus receptor obtained from murine thymoma cells and beta-adrenergic receptor obtained from calf lung exhibit identical molecular masses and isoelectric points; (iii) trypsin digests of purified reovirus and beta-adrenergic receptors display indistinguishable fragment patterns; (iv) purified reovirus receptor binds the beta-antagonist [125I]iodohydroxybenzylpindolol and this binding is blocked by the beta-agonist isoproterenol.