1. An apparatus for hanging a hammock with opposing ends using a single vertical support, comprising:
an elongated arm having opposing ends and a longitudinal axis;
a butt plate fixedly connected to one end of the arm so as to be substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the arm;
a suspension means having a first portion, for circumferentially extending around the vertical support, and a second portion for extending downwardly from the first portion to the arm for connection thereto at first and second longitudinally spaced connection points to thereby securely support the arm, with the butt plate abutting the vertical support such that the arm extends outwardly and substantially horizontally from the vertical support;
a gripper means for circumferentially extending at least partially around the vertical support so as to securely hold the butt plate in its position abutting the vertical support; and
hammock hanging means for connection of the opposing ends of the hammock to the arm at respective third and fourth longitudinally spaced connection points, the third connection point being longitudinally adjacent to the first connection point and the fourth connection point being longitudinally adjacent to the second connection point.
2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the arm includes a plurality of arm portions and at least one coupling member for joining adjacent arm portions together, a first arm portion defining the one end of the arm connected to the butt plate and a second arm portion defining the other end of the arm, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a tensioner means for connecting and urging toward one another the first arm portion and the second arm portion.
3. An apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein the tensioner means comprises: a bar for extending between and connecting the first and second arm portions so that the bar is under tension; and a means for adjusting said tension.
4. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the first portion of the suspension means comprises a chain.
5. An apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the second portion of the suspension means comprises at least one cable.
6. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the first portion of the suspension means comprises a cable.
7. An apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein the gripper means for holding the butt plate in abutment with the vertical support is denoted as the first gripper means, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a second gripper means for circumferentially extending at least partially around the vertical support and which includes a plurality of gripper plates having respective eyes for receiving the cable therethrough.
8. An apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the plurality of gripper plates includes a first gripper plate and a second gripper plate, the first gripper plate having a first eye for receiving the cable therethrough and also having a first sleeve, and the second gripper plate having a second eye for receiving the cable therethrough and also having a second sleeve, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a bolt member having a first section of bolt stock receivable through the first sleeve and a second section of bolt stock receivable through the second sleeve; and first and second nuts, the first nut being threadedly receivable by the first section of bolt stock so as to be tightenable against the first sleeve, and the second nut being threadedly receivable by the second section of bolt stock so as to be tightenable against the second sleeve.
9. An apparatus as recited in claim 8 wherein the first and second sections of bolt stock are hingedly connected.
10. An apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein the cable as the first portion of the suspension means is denoted as the first cable, and wherein the second gripper means further includes a second cable for connection to the first gripper plate and to the second gripper plate so as to extend partially around the vertical support from the first gripper plate to the second gripper plate.
11. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein the second portion of the suspension means comprises at least one third cable.
12. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the gripper means is substantially inelastic.
13. An apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein the gripper means includes a plurality of gripper plates.
14. An apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein the plurality of gripper plates include a first gripper plate with a first sleeve and a second gripper plate with a second sleeve, and wherein the apparatus further comprises: a bolt member having a first section of bolt stock receivable through the first sleeve and a second section of bolt stock receivable through the second sleeve; and first and second nuts, the first nut being threadedly receivable by the first section of bolt stock so as to be tightenable against the first sleeve, and the second nut being threadedly receivable by the second section of bolt stock so as to be tightenable against the second sleeve.
15. An apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the first and second sections of bolt stock are hingedly connected.
16. An apparatus as recited in claim 15 wherein the butt plate has transversely opposing sides, and wherein the gripper means further includes: a third gripper plate hingedly connected to the first gripper plate; a fourth gripper plate hingedly connected to the second gripper plate; fifth and sixth gripper plates hingedly connected to respective sides of the butt plate; a first cable for connecting the third gripper plate to the fifth gripper plate; and a second cable for connecting the fourth gripper plate to the sixth gripper plate.
17. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the arm has diametrically opposing first and second sides, and wherein the arm has first and second connector members fixedly connected to the first side and respectively corresponding to the first and second connection points, and further wherein the arm has third and fourth connection members fixedly connected to the second side and respectively corresponding to the third and fourth connection points.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A gc chain blocking agent that is selected from the group consisting of a soluble gc-binding polypeptide, a soluble gc-blocking polypeptide, or a soluble gc mimetic agent.
2. A gc blocking agent characterized as having the property of significantly blocking a response of a cell of a mammal to interleukin-2 (IL-2), wherein said blocking occurs without any requirement for a second compound which affects response of the cell to IL-2.
3. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the required second compound is an antibody.
4. The gc blocking agent of claim 3, wherein the required second compound is an antibody specific to an antigenic determinant of a human IL-2 receptor chain.
5. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent interacts with IL-2 receptor chain of a different species of mammal.
6. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody that cross competes with monoclonal antibody CP.B8 produced by hybridoma cell line ATCC No. HB-12107 for binding to gc chain, and also cross competes with Fab, F(ab)2, and Fv fragments and conjugates of said CP.B8.
7. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody that cross competes with monoclonal antibody CQ.C11 produced by hybridoma cell line ATCC No. HB-12105 for binding to gc chain, and also cross competes with Fab, F(ab)2, and Fv fragments and conjugates of said CQ.C11.
8. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody that cross competes with monoclonal antibody AF.F4 produced by hybridoma cell line ATCC No. HB-12104 for binding to gc chain, and cross competes Fab, F(ab)2, and Fv fragments and conjugates of said AF.F4.
9. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody that cross competes with the monoclonal antibody AE.C9 produced by hybridoma cell line ATCC No. HB-12106 for binding to gc chain, and cross competes with Fab, F(ab)2, and Fv fragments and conjugates of said AE.C9.
10. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody that cross competes with the monoclonal antibody AK.F12 produced by hybridoma cell line ATCC No. ______ for binding to gc chain, and cross competes with Fab, F(ab)2, and Fv fragments and conjugates of said AK.F12.
11. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody comprising CP.B8 or comprising a Fab fragment of CP.B8.
12. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody that is human, humanized, primatized, or chimerized.
13. The gc blocking agent of claim 2, wherein the agent is a monoclonal antibody further characterized as being able to block a response of a cell to a cytokine that is different from IL-2.
14. The monoclonal antibody of claim 13, wherein the different cytokine is selected from the group consisting of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-7, IL-9 and IL-15.
15. The monoclonal antibody of claim 13, wherein the monoclonal antibody is capable of significantly blocking a response of a cell to IL-2, IL-4, and IL-7.
16. The monoclonal antibody of claim 13, wherein the monoclonal antibody is capable of significantly blocking a response of to IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9 and IL-15.
17. A continuous hybridoma cell line selected from the group consisting of ATCC No. HB-12107, ATCC No. HB-12105, ATCC No. HB-12104, ATCC No. HB-12106, add ATCC No. ______.
18. A monoclonal antibody produced by hybridoma cell line selected from the group consisting of ATCC No. HB-12105, ATCC No. HB-12104, ATCC No. HB-12106, and ATCC No. ______.
19. A polynucleotide selected from the group of sequences consisting of:
(a) SEQ ID NOS.: 5 and 6;
(b) a polynucleotide that hybridizes to any of the foregoing sequences under standard hybridization conditions and that encodes at least part of a polypeptide having the property of significantly blocking a response of a cell to interleukin-2 (IL-2); and
(c) a polynucleotide that encodes a protein encoded by any of the foregoing polynucleotide sequences.
20. A gc chain binding agent that includes a polypeptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide sequence of claim 19.
21. A monoclonal antibody having complementarity determining regions (CDRs) encoded by a polynucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
(a) SEQ ID NO.: 5 and 6;
(b) a polynucleotide that hybridizes to any of the foregoing sequences under standard hybridization conditions; and
(c) a polynucleotide that encodes a protein encoded by any of the foregoing polynucleotide sequences.
22. A gc blocking agent that is an antibody having a light chain variable region CDR with an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) amino acids 24 to 34 of SEQ ID NO: 4; (b) amino acids 50 to 56 of SEQ ID NO: 4 and (c) amino acids 89 to 97 of SEQ ID NO: 4.
23. A gc blocking agent of claim 2 that is an antibody having a having a heavy chain variable region CDR with an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) amino acids 28 to 32 of SEQ ID NO: 3; (b) amino acids 47 to 61 of SEQ ID NO: 3 and (c) amino acids 95 to 104 of SEQ ID NO: 3.
24. A gc blocking agent that can bind to an epitopic sequence of human gc chain, the epitopic sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) SEQ ID NO: 13; (b) SEQ ID NO 14; (c) SEQ ID NO. 15; (d) SEQ ID NO: 16; (e) SEQ ID NO 17 and (f) any combination of the foregoing sequences.
25. A pharmaceutical composition which comprises a gc-blocking agent.
26. The composition of claim 25, wherein the agent is selected from the group consisting of a gc-blocking antibody homolog, a soluble ge-binding polypeptide, a soluble gc-blocking polypeptide, and a soluble gc mimetic agent.
27. The agent of claim 26 that is a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to an antigenic determinant of the gc chain of cytokine receptors.
28. The monoclonal antibody of claim 27 comprising CP.B8
29. A method of raising an antibody against a protein antigen comprising administering an immunogen to a mammal that is a non-denatured form of protein antigen.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the protein antigen comprises at least a portion of gc chain.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the non-denatured form of said at least a portion of gc chain comprises a fusion molecule that includes said at least a portion fused to at least part of an immunoglobulin constant region.
32. The method of claim 29, further comprising coadministering the non-denatured form of the protein antigen with protein A.
33. The method of claim 29, wherein the non-denatured form of protein antigen is noncovalently bound to a nondenaturing adjuvant.
34. A method for inhibiting functioning of the gc chain, comprising the step of contacting a cell with a the gc-blocking agent of claim 1, in an amount sufficient to inhibit cellular responses to a cytokine.
35. A method for inhibiting functioning of the gc chain, comprising the step of contacting a cell with the gc blocking agent of claim 2, in an amount sufficient to inhibit cellular responses to at least IL-2.
36. The method of claim 35, where the gc blocking agent is an antibody homolog that specifically binds to an antigenic determinant of the gc chain of cytokine receptors.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein the monoclonal antibody comprises CP.B8.
38. A method for treating or reducing the advancement, severity or effects of an immunological disease in a subject comprising the step of administering a composition which includes a gc-blocking agent
39. The method of claim 38, wherein the blocking agent is selected from the group consisting of a gc-blocking antibody homolog, a soluble gc-binding polypeptide, a soluble gc-blocking polypeptide, and a soluble gc mimetic agent.
40. The method of claim 39, where the gc blocking antibody homolog is a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to an antigenic determinant of the gc chain of cytokine receptors.
41. The method of claim 40, wherein the monoclonal antibody comprises CP.B8.
42. The method of claim 38, wherein the subject is a mammal.
43. The method of claim 38, wherein the immunological disease is selected from the group consisting of myasthenia gravis, IBD, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, insulin-dependent diabetes, sympathetic ophthalmia, uveitis, allergy, asthma, parasitic disease, graft versus host disease (GVHD), and psoriasis.
44. A method for inducing T-cell anergy comprising the step of administering to a population of T cells a composition which comprises a a gc-blocking agent.
45. The method of claim 44, wherein the blocking agent is selected from the group consisting of a gc-blocking antibody homolog, a soluble gc-binding polypeptide, a soluble gc-blocking polypeptide, and a soluble gc mimetic agent.
46. The method of claim 45, where the gc blocking antibody homolog is a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to an antigenic determinant of the gc chain of cytokine receptors.
47. The method of claim 46, wherein the monoclonal antibody comprises CP.B8.
48. A method for inhibiting function of a human cellular receptor, comprising the step of contacting the receptor with a noncompetitive inhibitor of the cellular receptor.
49. The method of claim 48, wherein the noncompetitive inhibitor is a gc-blocking agent.
50. The method of claim 49, wherein the noncompetitive inhibitor is a gc blocking agent that noncompetitively blocks either IL-2 or IL-4.
51. The method of claim 50, wherein the gc blocking agent is mAb CP.B8.
52. A method for treating or reducing the advancement, severity or effects of an immunological disease in a subject comprising the step of administering a noncompetitive inhibitor of a cellular receptor.
53. The method of claim 52, wherein the noncompetititve inhibitor is a gc-blocking agent.
54. The method of claim 53, wherein the noncompetitive inhibitor is a gc blocking agent that noncompetitively blocks either IL-2 or IL-4.
55. The method of claim 54, wherein the gc blocking agent is mAb CP.B8.
56. The method of claim 52, wherein the immunological disease does not respond to treatment by an inhibitor which acts competitively with respect to said cellular receptor.
57. A method of identifying a compound that non-competitively inhibits functioning of a cytokine receptor, comprising demonstrating that a capacity of the compound to inhibit the function is not competitively inhibited by high concentrations of cytokine.
58. The method of claim 57, wherein the cytokine receptor utilizes gc as one of its receptor components.