US 7,531,644 B2
IL-6 receptor•IL-6 direct fusion protein
Teiji Ekida, Kanagawa (Japan); Harutaka Yagame, Iwate (Japan); Hiroshi Iida, Kanagawa (Japan); Kiyoshi Yasukawa, Kanagawa (Japan); Shigeo Tsuchiya, Kanagawa (Japan); and Teruhiko Ide, Tokyo (Japan)
Assigned to Tosoh Corporation, Yamaguchi (Japan)
Filed on Oct. 10, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/544,639.
Application 11/544639 is a continuation of application No. 10/806422, filed on Mar. 23, 2004, abandoned.
Application 10/806422 is a continuation of application No. 09/743239, abandoned, previously published as PCT/JP99/03554, filed on Jul. 01, 1999.
Claims priority of application No. 10-190597 (JP), filed on Jul. 06, 1998; application No. 11-21788 (JP), filed on Jan. 29, 1999; and application No. 11-123411 (JP), filed on Apr. 30, 1999.
Prior Publication US 2007/0031376 A1, Feb. 08, 2007
Int. Cl. C07K 14/52 (2006.01); C07K 14/705 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 530—402  [530/350; 530/351] 6 Claims
 
1. An IL-6 receptor•IL-6 fusion protein, comprising:
(A) an IL-6 receptor represented by the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:63 or a partial sequence of IL-6 receptor that binds to IL-6
wherein the partial sequence of IL-6 receptor has an amino terminus at any one of Leu at the 20th position of SEQ ID NO:63, Val at the 112th position of SEQ ID NO:63, or Glu at the 116th position of SEQ ID NO:63, and a carboxy terminus that corresponds to any one of the amino acids at positions 323 to 361 of SEQ ID NO:63,
(B) an IL-6 represented by the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:64, or a partial sequence of IL-6 that binds to the IL-6 receptor of (A)
wherein the partial sequence of IL-6 has an amino terminus at any one of Ala at the 28th position of SEQ ID NO:64, Pro at the 29th position of SEQ ID NO:64, Val at the 30th position of SEQ ID NO:64, or Asp at the 38th position of SEQ ID NO:64, and a carboxy terminus at Met at the 212th position of SEQ ID NO:64;
wherein (A) and (B) are linked via a peptide bond from the carboxy terminus of (A) to the amino terminus of (B)—, and
wherein said fusion protein induces gp130 for signal transmission.