The United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services

Leland Stanford Junior University

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of

The United States of America as Represented by the Department of Health

Children's Medical Center Corporation

Harry B Greenberg

Robert M Chanock

Albert Z Kapikian

Richard G Wyatt

Anthony R Kalica

Philip R Dormitzer

Stephen C Harrison

Linda J Saif

Karen Midthun

Joshua Yoder

Walter D James

Edward H Bohl

Kenneth W Theil

The present invention relates to novel recombinant polypeptide antigens that may comprise subunit vaccines against rotavirus infection. Further, the present invention relates to methods for use of said antigens in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of rotavirus infection.

Rotavirus antigens

This invention relates to processes which are used to produce, isolate, and characterize human rotavirus/animal rotavirus reassortants and to produce live attenuated vaccines and vaccine precursors. In the present strategy there is involved the new use of either (1) high titer hyperimmune antisera or (2) monoclonal antisera to select reassortants with the desired human phenotype. A point of novelty is the finding that antiserum or monoclonal antisera alone, so long as it possesses high titer neutralizing activity against only the 34-38Kd glycoprotein or of the animal parent, is sufficient to use for selection of reassortant rotaviruses with human phenotype. Also, the novel products are live attenuated vaccine precursors and vaccines.

Genetic reassortment of rotaviruses for production of vaccines and

This invention relates to a precursor or intermediate for a rotavirus vaccine to protect infants and young children against diarrhea caused by rotavirus. The invention is the efficient propagation of a strain of human rotavirus type 2 prepared by a method of cultivation by multiple passages in vivo in gnotobiotic piglets and by multiple passages in vitro subsequently in AGMK (African green monkey kidney) cell cultures. Additionally, rotavirus is treated with a biologically active amount of trypsin prior to growth in AGMK cells, and the inoculated cell cultures are centrifuged at a low centrifugal force before incubation.

Cultivatable human rotavirus type 2

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Harry B Greenberg