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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 02 1996, 470-472, Vol 40, No. 2
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Selective cytotoxicity of ricin A chain immunotoxins towards murine cytomegalovirus-infected cells

BB Barnett, DF Smee, SM Malek and RW Sidwell
Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan 84322-5305, USA. bbarnett@cc.usu.edu

Immunotoxins were constructed by linking immunoglobulins specific for murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) to deglycosylated ricin A chain. Toxicities toward MCMV-infected and uninfected cells were determined by measuring the inhibition of protein synthesis following a 48-h exposure to immunotoxins commencing 24 h after infection. The 50% inhibitory concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 4 micrograms/ml for infected cells and from 22 to 120 micrograms/ml for uninfected cells. Selectivity indices ranged from 30 to 157. Control immunotoxins, which were constructed identically except that the immunoglobulin moiety had no specificity toward MCMV antigens, had 50% inhibitory concentrations of 50 and 100 micrograms/ml toward infected and uninfected cells, respectively.