the invention relates to a novel variety of purified retroviruses , related to the retrovirus defined above , but which are distinguished therefrom ( or which is characterized ) in that these viruses include one or several antigens having the characteristics of a glycoprotein in the tests which are described below . these antigens can be detected by labeling the virus with labeled cysteine , particularly 35 s - cysteine , in sufficiently high concentration in the culture medium of the virus , particularly 200 microcuries per ml of medium ; wherein the culture medium is devoid of unmarked cysteine . these antigens are selectively recognized by sera of patients afflicted with aids or las or by the sera of asymptomatic carriers of the virus . a preferred antigen , according to the preceding definition , obtained from a lysate of this virus ( or by gentle scouring of the envelopes of the virus ), has a molecular weight of about 110 , 000 daltons . this molecular weight can be compared with known molecular weight ( mw ) standards in a comparison of migration distances employing gel electrophoresis . in particular , the following proteins ( marketed by amersham ™) are employed : the gel electrophoresis was carried out on a 12 . 5 % gel , then under a voltage of 35 v for 18 hours . the invention also relates to antigens of the retrovirus , particularly antigens having a molecular weight of about 100 , 000 . the antigens are recognized by sera of patients infected with aids or las or by sera of persons who have been exposed to lav viruses , or viruses analogous with the latter . these antigens also form complexes with concanavalin a , said complex being dissociatable in the presence of o - methyl - α - d - mannopyranoside . the antigens according to the invention can also form complexes with other lectins . for example , those known as lentyl - lectin . the preferred antigen according to the invention , having a molecular weight of about 100 , 000 , is also sensitive to the action of endoglycosidases . on exposure to an endoglycosidase , the antigen having a molecular weight of about 100 , 000 produces a protein having a molecular weight of about 90 , 000 , the latter being separable by , for example , immunoprecipitation or gel electrophoresis . the invention also relates to the process for producing the viruses according to the invention . this process is distinguished from the processes described above in the method of final purification . in particular , the purification step of the process according to the invention does not employ gradients but involves performing differential centrifugations on the supernatants of the culture media of the producing cells . this process comprises a first centrifugation at an angular centrifugation velocity , particularly of about 10 , 000 rpm , enabling the removal of non - viral constituents , more particularly of cellular constituents , followed by a second centrifugation at a higher angular velocity , particularly at about 45 , 000 rpm , to precipitate the virus itself . in preferred embodiments , the first centrifugation , at 10 , 000 rpm , is maintained for 10 minutes and the second at 45 , 000 rpm , for 20 minutes . these are only indicative values , and it is within the ability of the specialist to modify the centrifugation conditions to ensure the separation of the cellular constituents and the viral constituents . this modification of the purification process results in the production of viral preparations from which the characterized antigen can be isolated . this antigen has not been obtained from virus preparations purified by the previous methods . the viruses obtained by the process of the present invention are distinguished from the preceding viral preparations , in that they are recognized by sera of patients or of persons who have been exposed to the lav virus or to morphologically and antigenically similar strains . the antigen according to the invention can be obtained from these viruses by lysis ( or other suitable processing ) of the viruses in the presence of any suitable detergent and by recovery and separation of the liberated antigens . advantageously , the lysis of the virus is effected in the presence of aprotinin or any other agent suitable for inhibiting the action of proteases . the separation of the antigens according to the invention can then be carried out by any method known : for example , it is possible to separate the proteins by employing their different migration distances in a predetermined gel , the desired protein is then isolated from the band of the gel in which it would normally be found in an electrophoresis process under determined conditions , having regard to its molecular weight . the antigen according to the invention can be separated from the lysate of the above viruses , due to their affinity for lectins , in particular , concanavalin a or lentyl - lectine . the lectin used is preferably immobilized on a solid support , such as the agarose - based cross - linked polymer marketed under the trade mark sepharose ®. after contacting the lysate with a suitable buffer , the antigen retained can be eluted in any suitable manner , particularly by employing o - methyl - α - mannopyranoside in solution . a more thorough purification of these antigens can be performed by immuno - precipitation with sera of patients known to possess antibodies against this protein , with concentrated antibody preparations ( polyclonal antibodies ) or with monoclonal antibodies , more particularly directed against the antigen of the invention , in particular , the antigen having a molecular weight of about 110 , 000 , denoted below by the abbreviation gp110 . additional characteristics of the invention appear in the following description of the isolation of a virus according to the invention , and of an envelope antigen of the virus . reference is also made to fig1 which is a photographic reproduction of gel strips which been used to carry out electrophoresis of lysate extracts of t lymphocytes , respectively infected and uninfected ( controls ) by a lav suspension . t lymphocytes derived from a healthy donor and infected with lav1 , under the conditions described by barre - sinoussi et al ., or cem cells derived from a patient afflicted with leukemia and infected in vitro with lav1 , were cultured in a medium containing 200 microcuries of 35 s - cysteine and devoid of marked cysteine . the infected lymphocytes were cultured in a non - denaturing medium to prevent the degradation of the antigen sought . the supernatant liquor from the culture medium is then centrifuged at 10 , 000 rpm for 10 minutes to remove the non - viral constituents , followed by a second centrifugation at 45 , 000 rpm for 20 minutes , to produce the sedimentation of the virus . the virus is then lysed with a detergent in the presence of aprotenin ( 5 %), particularly under the conditions described by barre - sinoussi et al . the same process is repeated on lymphocytes coming from a healthy donor as a control . the various lysates were then immuno - precipitated by sera of patients infected with aids or with sla , as well as from healthy donors or donors only infected with other diseases . the media were then electrophoresed in a sds - polyacrylamide gel . the results are shown in fig1 . the gel strips numbered from 1 to 6 were obtained from preparations labeled with 35 s - cysteine . the strips numbered 7 to 10 correspond to the results observed on infected or uninfected lymphocyte preparations labeled with 35 s - methionine . finally , the strip m corresponds to the migration distances of the reference proteins identified above . the molecular weights of the reference proteins are recited in the right hand portion of the figure . to the left of the figure are referenced the labeled viral proteins . it is noted that columns 7 to 10 show protein p25 of lav , marked with 35 s - methionine . this protein is absent from the columns 8 to 10 corresponding to results obtained from healthy lymphocytes . the columns 3 and 5 correspond to the results observed on preparations obtained from lymphocytes infected and marked with 35 s - cysteine . the proteins p25 and p18 were characteristic of proteins of the nucleotide of lav and the glycoprotein gp110 , also specific of lav . there also appear in the various preparations , although less distinctly , images corresponding to a protein p41 ( molecular weight of the order of 41 , 000 ), non - specific to the lav virus . this protein is also observed in the controls . the virus according to the invention and the antigen according to the invention can be either precipitated by lectins , particularly concanavalin a , or fixed to a sepharose ®- concanavalin a column . this fixation comprises contacting the lysate of the above virus in a buffer to form the following composition : ______________________________________ tris 10 mm nacl 0 . 15 m cacl 1 mm mgcl 1 mmdetergent marketed under the trademark triton ™ 1 % ph 7 . 4______________________________________ once the fixation has been effected , the sephrose ®- concanavalin a is washed with a buffer of the same composition , except that the triton ™ is lowered to 0 . 1 %. the elution is then effected with an 0 . 2m o - methyl - α - d - mannopyranoside solution in the washing buffer . the protein may be further concentrated by immuno - precipitation with antibodies contained in the sera of patients infected with aids , or with polyclonal antibodies obtained from a serum derived from an animal previously immunized against the virus of the invention , or the above glycoprotein . the protein can then be recovered by dissociation of the complex employing a solution having an adequate content of ionic salt . preferably the above antibody preparation have been previously immobilized on an insoluble support of the sepharose ® b type . it is also possible to employ monoclonal antibodies secreted by hybridomas previously prepared against gp110 . these monoclonal antibodies , as well as the hybridomas which produce them , also form part of the invention . below are described the conditions under which the monoclonal antibodies according to the invention can be prepared . groups of balb / c mice aged from 6 to 8 weeks were used . one group received the virus containing the above glycoprotein , another the glycoprotein gp110 . the immunization procedure , identical for the 4 mice , consisted of an injection , intraperitoneally , with three repeats , followed by one injection intravenously of 10 mg of the antigenic preparation , in the presence of freund complete adjuvant at day 0 , freund incomplete adjuvant at day 0 , freund incomplete adjuvant at day 14 , and without adjuvant at days 28 and 42 . the variant 6 . 53 which does not secrete myeloma p3 × 63 ag8 , is resistant to azaguanine , and which is derived from the cell line mopc - 21 , was used . fusion with immunized mouse splenocytes was carded out in the presence of polyethylene - glycol 4000 by the technique of fasekas de st - groth and scheidegger on the 45th day ( 8 ). the selection of the hybrids in rpmi 16 - 40 &# 34 ; hat &# 34 ; medium was carded out by the same culture in 24 plates ( costar ). the hybridomas producing antibodies of adequate specificity were then cloned in plates of 96 cups , in the presence of a &# 34 ; feeder &# 34 ; layer of syngenic thymocytes . the producing clones selected were then expanded in 24 cup plates , still in the presence of thymocytes . when the confluence appeared in one of the cups , the clone was injected intraperitoneally into a balb / c mouse which had received an injection of pristane 8 days previously , and / or kept in liquid culture . five different techniques enabled the characterization of the clones which produced antibodies of interesting specificity . in a first stage , the hybrids producing antibodies were determined by an elisa test revealing mouse immunoglobulins in the supernatant liquors . from this first selection , supernatants were selected which had antibodies directed against viral constituents as shown by an elisa test revealing anti - lav antibodies ( 9 ), or by immunofluorescence on the virus producing human cells . finally , the supernatant liqours were analyzed by radioimmunoprecipitation of virus labeled with cysteine and by the technique of western - blot on viral preparation ( 10 ), which permitted the determination of the specificities of these anti - lav antibodies . cells obtained from the various fusions were cultured in 648 cups . their microscopic examination has shown that the majority of these cups contained a single hybrid clone capable of growing in a &# 34 ; hat &# 34 ; selective medium . more than 50 % of the samples produced antibodies giving rise to a positive response on elisa antivirus examination . the most representative fusions were tested by the western - blot technique and several of the fusions were subcloned , taking into account their specificity , their reactivity in antivirus elisa and their behavior in cultivation . the hybrids which produced antibodies which recognized gp110 were preferably selected . all of the subclones produced antibodies which , after expression , were injected into syngenic mice . analysis of the specificities of the antibodies present in the different ascites liquids confirm the specificity of the antibodies of said ascites with respect to gp110 . the monoclonal antibodies obtained can be employed to purify proteins containing an antigenic site also contained in gp110 . the invention relates therefore , to these processes of purification . this process is advantageously applied to virus lysates , or t lymphocytes lysates , or other cells producing lav or the like , when before the lysis is performed care is taken to avoid the uncontrolled separation of gp110 ( this process can also be applied to any solution containing gp110 or a protein , polypeptide or glycoprotein comprising an antigenic site of an envelope protein recognized by the monoclonal antibody , whatever the nature of this solution ). for practicing this process , the monoclonal antibodies are advantageously immobilized on a solid support , preferably adapted to affinity chromatography operations . for example , these monoclonal antibodies are fixed on an agarose lattice with three - dimensional cross - linking , marketed under the trade mark sepharose ® by the swedish company pharmacia a . g ., for example , by the cyanogen bromide method . the invention therefore relates more particularly to a process for separating the antigens characterized by processes comprising contacting the culture medium which may contain the antigens with an affinity column having the above monoclonal antibodies , to selectively fix said polypeptides , proteins or glycoproteins , and then to recover the latter by dissociating the antigen - antibody complex formed by employing a suitable buffer , particularly a solution of adequate ionic strength , for example , of a salt , preferably ammonium acetate ( which does not leave a residue when freeze drying of the preparation is then carried out ). it is also possible to employ a solution acidified to ph 2 - 4 or to a glycine buffer at the same ph . these antigens can be employed as reagent or as in vitro diagnostic agents for the detection of anti - lav antibodies . it is self - evident that the invention relates also to polypeptide fractions which can have lower molecular weights , when the polypeptide fractions carry antigenic sites recognizable by the same monoclonal antibodies . it will be clear to the specialist that the monoclonal antibodies of the invention enable the isolation , from the above - indicated antigens , of smaller peptide sequences containing the same antigenic sites , for example , by using known techniques of cutting up the original polypeptide employing enzymes capable of cleaving the larger polypeptides at specific sites . as an example , the enzyme of staphilococcus aureus v8 , alpha - chymotrypsine ; &# 34 ; mouse sub - maxilllary gland protease &# 34 ; marketed by the boehringer ™ company , vibrio alginolyticus chemovar iophagus collagenase , specifically recognizes the peptides gly - pro and gly - ala , etc . it is also possible to isolate polypeptides or fragments of antigens of envelopes of the virus , by cloning fragments excised from a cdna constructed from genomes of the various varieties of lav viruses and the like . fig2 is representative of restriction charts of several of these cdnas comprising a total of 9 . 1 to 9 . 2 kb . more particularly , the polypeptides coded by cdna fragments located in the region extending between the site kpni ( position 6100 ) with respect to restriction charts of fig2 and site bglii ( position 9150 ). the presence of a site characteristic of an antigen of the envelope of lav or the like in the polypeptide which can be expressed ( in a suitable host cell previously transformed by such a fragment or by a vector containing this fragment ) can be detected by any suitable immunochemical means . the antigens can also be used to separate antibodies having the above indicated characteristics from the polyclonal antibody mixture . in this case , the polypeptides can also be immobilized on an affinity chromatography support ., for example , of the type indicated above . the process of separation will comprise contacting a solution containing the polyclonal antibodies with immobilized polypeptides , followed by recovering the antibodies retained by employing a solution or a buffer similar to that described above . finally , the invention relates to immunogenic composition characterized by the association of an antigen of the invention , and an immunogenic particle particularly in the proportion of 10 to 500 , more particularly from 50 to 100 micrograms / kg , with a physiologically acceptable excipient permitting its administration to a living host , more particularly man , to confer on the host immunity with respect to said antigens , including the lav viruses or entire analogs . these antigens comprise active principles whose immunogenicity can be employed any time that protection is sought in vivo against lav viruses which are related to the immunogenic particles . the invention also relates also to a process using the antigens of the invention for the detection of the presence of anti - lav antibodies , particularly in blood specimens derived from man or from an animal , indicating the presence of aids or of las . finally , the invention relates to an in vitro process of diagnosis employing an envelope antigen of the invention for the detection of anti - lav antibodies in the sera of patients afflicted with the disease or persons immunized against the virus . more particularly , the invention relates to a &# 34 ; kit &# 34 ; comprising this antigen . depositing predetermined amounts of an antigen of the invention in the cup of a titration microplate : adding increasing dilutions of the serum to be diagnosed into the cups ; introducing into the cups of the microplate labeled antibodies of immunoglobulins of the blood , the label being an enzyme selected from enzymes capable of hydrolysing a substrate such that the substrate undergoes a modification of its absorption of radiations , at least within a predetermined band of wavelengths , and detecting , preferably comparatively with respect to a control , the amount of hydrolysis of the substrate as a measure of the potential risks or of the effective presence of the disease . of course , it is possible to carry out quantitative titrations of antibodies on the sera studied . preferred methods employ immuno - enzymatic or immunofluorescent titrations , in particular , employing the elisa technique . titrations may be determinations by immunofluorescence or direct or indirect immuno - enzymatic determinations .
a novel human retrovirus which is the aetiological agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome , designated lymphadenopathy - associated virus , was isolated from the lymph nodes of a patient suffering from generalized persistant lymphadenopathy . lav displays a tropism for cd4 + lymphocytes , a mg 2 + - dependent reverse transcriptase activity , a density of 1 . 16 - 1 . 17 as determined by sucrose gradient centrifugation , a particle diameter of 139 nm , and a p25 antigen that is immunologically distinct from the htlv - i / ii p24 protein . radioimmunoprecipitation analysis of 35 s - cysteine - labeled viral or cellular lysates employing patient antisera resulted in the identification of a viral antigen having a molecular weight of 110 kda . endoglycosidase treatment of this antigen produces a protein with a molecular weight of 90 kda . methods are disclosed for the preparation of hybridomas producing lav gp110 - specific monoclonal antibodies . methods are also disclosed employing these mabs in the purification of the lav envelope glycoprotein , gp110 .