Patent ID: 8779099

Claim:
A composition comprising an isolated and purified antagonist of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), wherein said antagonist is identified by a method for screening compounds comprising: contacting an MHC class II invariant chain (Ii) polypeptide with MIF in the presence and absence of a candidate compound, and comparing the interaction of the MIF and said Ii polypeptide in the presence of said candidate compound with their interaction in the absence of said candidate compound, whereby a candidate compound that inhibits the interaction of said MIF with said Ii polypeptide is identified as an antagonist of MIF, wherein said Ii polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, and wherein the isolated and purified antagonist of MIF (i) is not a LN2 or a M-B741 antibody; and (ii) is an anti-CD74 antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof that binds to the extracellular domain of the Ii polypeptide consisting of amino acids 109-149 of SEQ ID NO: 2.