Abstract: The technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide peptides corresponding to immunologically important epitopes on bacterial and viral proteins, as well as the use of said peptides in diagnostic or immunogenic compositions. The invention relates to a process for the in vitro determination of antibodies, wherein the peptides used are biotinylated, particularly in the form of complexes of streptavidin-biotinylated peptides or of avidin-biotinylated peptides.

Abstract: The invention relates to nucleic acids which contain particularly a nucleotide sequence extending from the extremity constituted by the nucleotide at position (1) to the extremity constituted by the nucleotide at position (1211) represented on the figure, to the polypeptides coded by the nucleic acids. The polypeptides of the invention can be used for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, and can also be part of the active principle in the preparation of a vaccine against tuberculosis.

Abstract: Cultures of keratinocyte cells are provided which are free from nonautologous fibroblasts and organ extracts, and which have a high speed of cell amplification for a minimum seeding density. The cultures can be cryopreserved in a buffered isotonic medium containing serum and a cryoprotectant. The cultures are produced by a process that does not involve the use of a feeder layer and organ extracts. A culture medium which can be used contains Medium 199, serum, epidermal growth factor, cholera toxin and/or hydrocortisone, and optionally insulin. A substance for wound healing and for cosmetic applications is derived from cultured human keratinocytes. A non-viable total keratinocyte lysate for use in promoting wound healing is produced by growing keratinocyte cells on a support, detaching the cells from the support, and lysing the detached cells to obtain the lysate which may be frozen and lyophilized.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a polynucleic acid composition comprising or consisting of at least one polynucleic acid containing 8 or more contiguous nucleotides corresponding to a nucleotide sequence from the region spanning positions 417 to 957 of the Core/E1 region of HCV type 3; and/or the region spanning positions 4664 to 4730 of the NS3 region of HCV type 3: and/or the region spanning positions 4892 to 5292 of the NS3/4 region of HCV type 3; and/or the region spacing positions 8023 to 8235 of the NS5 region of the BR36 subgroup of HCV type 3a; and/or the coding region of HCV type 4a starting at nucleotide 379 in the core region; and/or the coding region of HCV type 4; and/or the coding region of HCV type 5, with said nucleotide numbering being with respect to the numbering of HCV nucleic acids as shown in Table 1, and with said polynucleic acids containing at least one nucleotide difference with known HCV type 1, and/or HCV type 2 genomes in the above-indicated regions, or the complement thereof.

Abstract: The invention relates to recombinant polypeptides and peptides and particularly to the polypeptide containing in its polypeptidic chain the following amino acid sequence: the one extending from the extremity constituted by nucleotide at position (1) to the extremity constituted by nucleotide at position (194) represented in FIG. 4a and FIG. 4b. The polypeptides and peptides of the invention can be used for the diagnostic of tuberculosis, and can also be part of the active principle in the preparation of vaccine against tuberculosis.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a polynucleic acid composition comprising or consisting of at least one polynucleic acid containing 8 or more contiguous nucleotides corresponding to a nucleotide sequence from the region spanning positions 417 to 957 of the Core/E1 region of HCV type 3; and/or the region spanning positions 4664 to 4730 of the NS3 region of HCV type 3; and/or the region spanning positions 4892 to 5292 of the NS3/4 region of HCV type 3; and/or the region spanning positions 8 023 to 8 235 of the NS5 region of the BR36 subgroup of HCV type 3a and/or the coding region of HCV type 4a starting at nucleotide 379 in the core region; and/or the coding region of HCV type 4; and/or the coding region of HCV type 5, with said nucleotide numbering being with respect to the numbering of HCV nucleic acids as shown in Table 1, and with said polynucleic acids containing at least one nucleotide difference with known HCV type 1, and/or HCV type 2 genomes in the above-indicated regions, or the complement thereof.

Abstract: The invention relates to a polypeptide containing in its polypeptidic chain: the amino acid sequence of 101 amino acids of FIG. 8, or a fragment of this sequence, this fragment being such that it is liable to be recognized by antibodies also recognizing the abovesaid sequence of 101 amino acids, but it is not recognized by antibodies respectively raised against M. bovis, M. avium, M. phlei and M. tuberculosis, and possibly against M. leprae, M. intracellulare, M. scrofulaceum, M. fortuitum, M. gordonae and M. smegmatis; it is liable to generate antibodies which also recognize the abovesaid sequence of 101 amino acids but which do not recognize M. bovis, M. avium, M. Phlei and M. smegmatis; it reacts with the majority of sera from cattle suffering from Johne's disease; or the polypeptidic sequences resulting from the modification by substitution and/or by addition and/or by deletion of one or several amino acids in so far as this modification does not alter the above-mentioned properties.

Abstract: The invention relates to a probe consisting of at least about 15 nucleotides from the spacer region between rRNA genes of a non-viral organism, particularly prokaryotic organism and more particularly bacteria, and preferably from about 15 nucleotides to about the maximum number of nucleotides of the spacer region and more preferably from about 15 to about 100 nucleotides to be used for the detection of non-viral microorganisms.

Abstract: The invention relates to a monoclonal antibody which forms an immunological complex with an epitope of an antigen belonging to normal human tau protein as well as abnormally phosphorylated human tau protein, with said tau protein being liable to be obtained from a brain homogenate, itself isolated from human cerebral cortex. The monoclonal antibodies of the invention can be used to detect tau and abnormally phosphorylated tau in brain extracts and in unconcentrated cerebrospinal fluid.

Abstract: A monoclonal antibody which forms an immunological complex with a phosphorylated epitope of an antigen belonging to human abnormally phosphorylated tau protein. The tau protein ca be obtained from a brain homogenate, itself isolated from the cerebral cortex of a patient having Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: The invention relates to a probe consisting of at least about 15 nucleotides from the spacer region between rRNA genes of a non-viral organism, particularly prokaryotic organism and more particularly bacteria, and preferably from about 15 nucleotides to about the maximum number of nucleotides of the spacer region and more preferably from about 15 to about 100 nucleotides to be used for the detection of non-viral microorganisms.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for purifying recombinant HCV single or specific oligomeric envelope proteins selected from the group consisting of E1 and/or E1/E2 characterized in that upon lysing the transformed host cells to isolate the recombinantly expressed protein a disulphide bond cleavage or reduction step is carried out with a disulphide bond cleavage agent. The present invention also relates to a composition isolated by such a method. The present invention also relates to the diagnostic and therapeutic application of these compositions. Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of HCV E1 protein and peptides for prognosing and monitoring the clinical effectiveness and/or clinical outcome of HCV treatment.

Abstract: A monoclonal antibody which forms an immunological complex with a phosphorylated epitope of an antigen belonging to human abnormally phosphorylated tau protein. The tau protein ca be obtained from a brain homogenate, itself isolated from the cerebral cortex of a patient having Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: An isolated human tau peptide epitope which specifically binds monoclonal antibody AT120 consisting of the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos. 2, 3, 4, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.

Abstract: This invention is directed toward a peptide corresponding to an immunologically important viral epitope. Specifically, the peptide corresponds to an immunodominant epitope identified in the gp120 region of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), strain Ant70. This peptide has the following amino acid sequence: NH2-Gln-Ile-Asp-Ile-Gln-Glu-Met-Arg-Ile-Gly-Pro-Met-Ala-Trp-Tyr-Ser-Met-Gly-Ile-Gly-Gly-CO2H. The invention also relates to the use of this peptide, particularly when biotinylated in the form of complexes of streptavidin-biotinylated peptides or of avidin-biotinylated peptides, for the in vitro determination of HIV-1-specific antibodies.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for genotyping any HCV isolate present in a biological sample, previously identified as being HCV positive, and for classifying said isolate according to the percentage of homology with other HCV isolates, comprising the steps of: contacting said sample in which the ribonucleotides or deoxyribonucleotides have been made accessible, if need be, under suitable denaturation, with at least one probe from about 10 to about 40 nucleotides, with said probe being liable to hybridize to a region being in the domain extending from nucleotide at position −291 to nucleotide at position −66 of the 5′ untranslated region of one of the HCV isolates represented by their cDNA sequences, with said numbering of position beginning with the first ATG codon of the open reading frame encoding the HCV polyprotein, or with said probe being complementary to the above-defined probes, detecting the complexes possibly formed between said probe and the nucleotide sequence of the HCV i

Abstract: The etiological agent responsible for non-A, non-B hepatitis has been identified and termed hepatitis C virus (HCV). The HCV genome is a linear, positive-stranded RNA molecule with a length of approximately 9,400 nucleotides. With the exception of rather short untranslated regions at the termini, the genome consists of one large, uninterrupted, open reading frame encoding a polyprotein of approximately 3,000 amino acids. This polyprotein has been shown to be cleaved co-translationally into individual viral structural and non-structural (NS) regions. The structural protein region is further divided into capsid (Core) and envelope (E1 and E2) regions. The NS regions are divided into NS-1 to NS-5. The present invention is directed toward peptides derived from the HCV NS4 region that contain immunologically important epitopes. A series of biotinylated peptides were prepared by solid phase peptide synthesis and these peptides have proven useful for the detection of HCV-specific antisera.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for treating a skin surface wound of a human. The process includes topically applying a keratinocyte pellet fraction onto the wound to result in wound closure. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition including a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle and a keratinocyte pellet fraction. The keratinocyte pellet fraction can be produced in a sterile manner by growing a keratinocyte culture, lysing the keratinocytes, centrifugation, and recovering the keratinocyte pellet fraction.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the in-vitro diagnosis of chromosomal anomalies liable to be correlated with CMT1a disease. The invention also relates to probes intended in this in-vitro diagnosis process and to kits containing said probes. The probes of the invention can contain a sequence constituted of from about 15 successive nucleotides of a Not1 fragment, with said Not1 fragment having 1.2.times.10.sup.6 base pairs and being obtained after digesting human DNA of patients with Not1, separating the fragments resulting from digestion by pulsed field gel electrophoresis and hybridizing the resulting fragments with any of the probes VAW409, EW401 or VAW412 or their derivatives, to about the total number of the successive nucleotides of the Not1 fragment. The probes enable the detection of the duplication of a part of chromosome 17p.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for genotyping any HCV isolate present in a biological sample, previously identified as being HCV positive, and for classifying said isolate according to the percentage of homology with other HCV isolates, comprising the steps of:contacting said sample in which the ribonucleotides or deoxyribonucleotides have been made accessible, if need be, under suitable denaturation, with at least one probe from about 10 to about 40 nucleotides, with said probe being liable to hybridize to a region being in the domain extending from nucleotide at position -291 to nucleotide at position -66 of the 5' untranslated region of one of the HCV isolates represented by their cDNA sequences, with said numbering of position beginning with the first ATG codon of the open reading frame encoding the HCV polyprotein, br with said probe being complementary to the above-defined probes,detecting the complexes possibly formed between said probe and the nucleotide sequence of the HCV isolate to be identifie