Patent ID: 6156301
Filing Date: 2000-12-05
Classification: A61K,C07K,C12N,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for stimulating B lymphocyte development and proliferation in a human, wherein said method consists of administering to said human an effective amount of human interleukin-7 (IL-7) in admixture with a suitable diluent or carrier, wherein said human IL-7 comprises conservative amino acid substitution(s) or deletion(s) in the amino acid sequence of residues 1-152 of SEQ ID NO:4, wherein said amino acid substitutions or deletions are selected from:(a) substitutions of one to four cysteine residues with an amino acid selected from alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, serine, threonine, asparagine and glutamine, provided that one disulfide bond remains intact;(b) substitution of at least one arginine residue to a lysine residue, wherein said arginine residue is adjacent to a lysine residue;(c) substitution of at least one of asparagine, serine or threonine, wherein said asparagine, serine or threonine appears in an amino acid triplet of an n-glycosylation site;(d) substitution of n-terminal aspartic acid with methionine;(e) substitution of serine in position -1 of SEQ ID NO:4 with methionine;(f) deletion of one to four cysteine residues, providing that one disulfide bond remains intact;(g) deletion of at least one arginine residue, wherein said arginine residue is adjacent to a lysine residue; and(h) deletion of at least one of asparagine, serine or threonine, wherein said asparagine, serine or threonine appears in an amino acid triplet of an n-glycosylation site.