Patent ID: 7829293

Claim:
An isolated antibody or fragment thereof that specifically binds to a protein selected from the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide whose amino acid sequence consists of amino acid residues −20 to 129 of SEQ ID NO:2; (b) a polypeptide whose amino acid sequence consists of amino acid residues −19 to 129 of SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a polypeptide whose amino acid sequence consists of amino acid residues 1 to 129 of SEQ ID NO:2; (d) a polypeptide comprising the full-length chemokine β-15 polypeptide encoded by cDNA clone contained in ATCC™ Deposit No. 97519; (e) a polypeptide comprising the mature chemokine β-15 polypeptide encoded by cDNA clone contained in ATCC™ Deposit No. 97519; (f) a polypeptide whose amino acid sequence consists of a portion of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said portion is at least 30 contiguous amino acid residues in length; (g) a polypeptide whose amino acid sequence consists of a portion of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said portion is at least 50 contiguous amino acid residues in length; and (h) an isolated chemokine β-15 polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least 95% identical to an amino acid sequence selected from the group of (a), (c), (d), and (e) above wherein said isolated chemokine β-15 polypeptide stimulates thymocyte proliferation.