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High titers of oncornavirus-inactivating factor (OIF) were found previously in sera of laboratory mice. OIF is highly active against mouse xenotropic and polytropic envelope recombinant murine leukemia viruses (MuLVs) but not against ecotropic MuLVs. Of the 20 different mouse species or subspecies currently tested, that represent 4 subgenera, no OIF was found in the 3 subgenera more distant to the laboratory mouse. In the subgenus Mus, 7 of the 8 most distant species had no OIF, whereas all the ancestral species and subspecies of the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus musculus, Mus musculus domesticus), including a more distant member (Mus musculus cookii), had ample titers of OIF. A new separation technique was devised so that potential virus-neutralizing immunoglobulins could be separated by electrophoresis from OIF in small-volume serum samples. Active OIF was recovered from serum high-density lipoprotein, from very-low-density lipoprotein, as well as from chylomicron fractions. Murine sarcoma virus pseudotypes were made with several available exotic MuLV types. These pseudotype MuLVs were not susceptible to standard OIF preparations. The sera of exotic mice also had no factor analogous to OIF which would inactivate their own homologous or heterologous exotic MuLVs. It appears that, with one exception, OIF activity is limited to two subspecies of M. musculus and may be correlated in these subspecies with the presence of endogenous xenotropic MuLVs.

Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) were isolated and expanded from small tumour biopsy samples of twenty-eight patients (thirteen with malignant melanoma, seven with renal cell carcinoma, and eight with non-small-cell lung cancer). The patients were treated with autologous expanded TIL (about 10(10)) and continuous infusions of recombinant human interleukin-2(1-3 x 10(6) U/m2 per 24 h). 29% of the patients with renal cell cancer and 23% of those with melanoma achieved objective tumour responses lasting 3-14 months. Toxic side-effects were limited, and no patient required intensive-care monitoring. Adoptive immunotherapy with TIL and interleukin-2 may be an effective systemic approach to the treatment of some patients with malignant melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

We performed radionuclide scanning after the intravenous injection of human IgG labeled with indium-111 in 128 patients with suspected focal sites of inflammation. Localization of 111In-labeled IgG correlated with clinical findings in 51 infected patients (21 with abdominal or pelvic infections, 11 with intravascular infections, 7 with pulmonary infections, and 12 with skeletal infections). Infecting organisms included gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, Pneumocystis carinii, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Candida albicans. No focal localization of 111In-labeled IgG was observed in 63 patients without infection. There were five false negative results, and nine results were unusable. Serial scans were carried out in eight patients: continued localization correctly predicted relapse in six, and the absence of localization indicated resolution in two. To determine whether 111In-labeled IgG localization was specific for inflammation, we studied 16 patients with cancer. Focal localization occurred in 13 of these patients (5 with melanomas, 5 with gynecologic cancers, and 1 each with lymphoma, prostate cancer, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma). No localization was seen in patients with renal or colon cancer or metastatic medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. We conclude that 111In-labeled IgG imaging is effective for the detection of focal infection and that serial scans may be useful in assessing therapeutic efficacy. This technique may also be helpful in the evaluation of certain cancers.

Human cellular DNA contains two distinguishable families of retroviral related sequences. One family shares extensive nucleotide sequence homology with infectious mammalian type C retroviral genomes (T. I. Bonner, C. O'Connell, and M. Cohen, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79:4709-4713, 1982; M. A. Martin, T. Bryan, S. Rasheed, and A. S. Khan, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78:4892-4896, 1981). The other family contains major regions of homology with the pol genes of infectious type A and B and avian type C and D retroviral genomes (R. Callahan, W. Drohan, S. Tronick, and J. Schlom, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79:5503-5507, 1982; I. M. Chiu, R. Callahan, S. R. Tronick, J. Schlom, and S. A. Aaronson, Science 223:364-370, 1984). Analysis of the human recombinant clone HLM-2 has shown that the pol gene in the latter family is located within an endogenous proviral genome (R. Callahan, I. M. Chiu, J. F. H. Wong, S. R. Tronick, B. A. Roe, S. A. Aaronson, and J. Schlom, Science 228:1208-1211, 1985). We show that the proviral genome in HLM-2 and the related recombinant clone HLM-25 are located, respectively, on human chromosomes 1 and 5. Other related proviral genomes are located on chromosomes 7, 8, 11, 14, and 17.

To determine if radiolabeled specific antibodies directed against bacterial antigens could be used to detect sites of infection, gamma camera imaging studies were performed in animals infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Murine monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) directed against Fisher Immunotype 1 Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a nonmicrobial, nonmammalian haptene, p-arsanilic acid, were labeled with 125I by the lodogen-Bead method. Unilateral, deep thigh infections were created by innoculation with 2 X 10(8) Fisher Immunotype 1 P. aeruginosa. Twenty-four hours later, one of the radiolabeled antibodies was injected intravenously at a dose of 0.25 mg/kg (100-150 microCi). Serial gamma imaging was then carried out beginning at 4 hr and at approximately 24-hr intervals thereafter. Beginning as early as 4 hr postinjection, the area of inflammation could be visualized with either the specific or nonspecific Mab, with the images continuing to intensify until 24-48 hr postinjection. At 48 hr, the contrast between lesion and background with the nonspecific Mab began to fade, while the contrast in the specific Mab-generated images continued to intensify until approximately 192 hr postinjection. Clear-cut differentiation between specific and nonspecific Mab-generated images was possible by 72 hr postinjection. We conclude that specific immune imaging of localized infection with Mab's directed against specific microbial antigens is possible and should be clinically useful. In addition, images created by the localization of immunoglobulin non-specifically at the site of inflammation in the first 24-48 hr postinjection may also provide useful information as to the anatomic location of hidden abscesses.

1. Endogenous type C viruses have been detected in a wide variety of mammalian species. Multiple copies of related, but not identical, virogene sequences can be found in the DNA of these species. 2. The endogenous type C virogenes are subject to the pressures of natural selection, and closely related species possess related virogene sequences. These genes evolve as cellular entities diverging from one another in a manner which correlates well with taxonomic relatedness of the species. 3. The endogenous type C viruses of baboons and domestic cats are related, but they can be distinguished by biologic and immunologic criteria and by partial nucleic acid sequence homology. Virogene sequences in the DNA of Old World monkeys and domestic cats also show a degree of relatedness not shared by the unique sequence DNA of these species. The data suggest that progenitors of domestic cats were exogenously infected by a type C virus that also gave rise to present-day endogenous type C viruses of Old World monkeys. 4. The genomes of exogenously infectious viruses replicating in permissive host cells appear to evolve much more rapidly than endogenous virogenes which replicate as cellular genes. Laboratory strains of efficiently oncogenic type C viruses are presumed to be derived from activated endogenous viruses which have been selected for virulence and which, in certain cases, have acquired the capacity to replicate in the host's own cells. 5. The ubiquitous presence of endogenous type C viruses among vertegrates and their preservation throughout millions of years of evolution suggests that these genes express normal physiologic functions which provide a selective advantage to the species.

A strain carrying the mutation trpA515, which maps in the "unusual" region (between the genes trpA and trpB) of the tryptophan operon of Salmonella typhimurium is capable of utilizing anthranilic acid as a growth factor only in the presence of the analog 5-methyltryptophan, normally a potent growth inhibitor. The reason for this peculiar phenotype is the creation by trpA515 of a transcription-initiating signal in the "unusual" region.

The synthesis of 1,3-dihexadecyloxy-2-propanol (glycerol 1,3-dihexadecyl ether) is reported. The method is applicable to the preparation of other 1,3-disubstituted glycerols where the substituents are not affected by acid or by catalytic hydrogenolysis conditions.