PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CELLS INFECTED BY A MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATED VIRUS

摘要

A culture or cell line infected with a virus strain associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) is prepd. by (1) taking a body sample from an MS patient; (2) culturing this in medium favouring growth of infected cells to produce a culture of primary infected cells; (3) subjecting a sample of this (or of derived subculture) to successive passaging. The culture medium used contains an antibody (Ab) against beta-interferon (or an antigenically similar cpd.) which acts as an inhibitor of viral expression, to allow persistent expression of virus and propagation of the viral strain in the culture or cell line. Also new are (1) prodn. of continuous cultures or cell lines infected with the viral; (2) culture media contg. Ab; (3) cell withdrawn from (or belonging to) cultures produced as above (also their derivs. in which the genome has been modified without affecting the phenotype); (4) method for transactivation of MS-related virus in such cells; (5) virus fractions isolated from these cells; and (6) immunological reactant comprising mono- or poly-clonal antibodies directed against antigenic viral extracts.