Antibodies against Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV)

The present invention provides novel antibody sequences that bind and neutralize hCMV, and that can be used for detecting, treating, inhibiting, preventing, and/or ameliorating hCMV infection or an hCMV-related disease. Human B cells were obtained from an hCMV-seropositive individual and immortalized. This polyclonal population of immortalized, human B cells were used for generating subcultures that were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies in the cell culture supernatant neutralizing hCMV infection in vitro. Among the selected subcultures, the neutralizing activity, the isotype, and the clonality were determined for the antibodies secreted by the subcultures named 8C10, 10B7 and 8Al 1. These antibodies recognize the hCMV envelope glycoprotein B (gB), which is known to be the molecular target of antibodies neutralizing ability confirmed using in vitro models for hCMV infection. The DNA sequences that encode the variable regions of the antibody secreted by the 8C10, 10B7 and 8Al 1 subcultures were amplified, cloned, and sequenced. The corresponding protein sequences were analyzed to identify the Complementarity Determining Regions (CDRs) that are responsible for the hCMV-specific biological activity. These sequences can be used for producing proteins having hCMV-specific binding and neutralizing properties, in the form of full antibodies, antibody fragments, or any other format of functional protein (e.g. bioactive peptide, fusion proteins) using the appropriate technologies for producing recombinant proteins. Compositions having therapeutic, prophylactic, and/or diagnostic utility in the management of hCMV infection and hCMV-related disorders can be prepared using these recombinant proteins, or antibodies purified from cell cultures originated from the 8ClO, 10B7, 37B7 or 8Al 1 subcultures.