Cancer Research Technology Limited

Medical Research Council

Cancer Research Campaign Technology Limited

Cambridge Drug Discovery Holding, Ltd

Robert E Hawkins

Gregory Paul Winter

Stephen J Russell

Stephen James Russell

Freda Stevenson

Delin Zhu

Richard Henry Begent

Kerry Anne Chester

The invention relates to a nucleic acid construct for delivery into living cells in vivo for inducing an immune response in a patient to an idiotypic determinant present on a malignant B cell in the patient; the construct directing the expression of a fusion protein, said fusion protein comprising the idiotypic determinant and at least one T helper cell epitope from tetanus toxin. The invention further relates to a method of making the nucleic acid construct, a method of treating a patient, and to a composition comprising the nucleic acid construct.

Immune responses to fusion proteins

We have made retrovirus particles displaying a functional antibody fragment. We fused the gene encoding an antibody fragment directed against a hapten with that encoding the viral envelope protein (Pr80env) of the ecotropic Moloney murine leukemia virus. The fusion gene was co-expressed in ecotropic retroviral packaging cells with a retroviral plasmid carrying the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (neo), and retroviral particles with specific hapten biding activities were recovered. Furthermore the hapten-binding particles were able to transfer the neo gene and the antibody-envelope fusion gene to mouse fibroblasts. In principle, the display of antibody fragments on the surface of recombinant retroviral particles could be used to target virus to cells for gene delivery, or to retain the virus in target tissues, or for the construction of libraries of viral display packages.

Recombinant viruses displaying a nonviral polypeptide on their external surface

Antibody against carcionembryonic antigen (CEA)

Recombinant viruses displaying a nonviral polypeptide on their external

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Robert E Hawkins