VARIANTS OF HUMAN RECOMBINANT INTERFERON-GAMMA (RHU-IFN-GAMMA) HAVING INCREASED HEAT-STABILITY

摘要

PCT No. PCT/DE96/01556 Sec. 371 Date May 11, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date May 11, 1998 PCT Filed Aug. 15, 1996 PCT Pub. No. WO97/24376 PCT Pub. Date Jul. 10, 1997The invention provides new variants of recombinant human interferon- gamma (rhIFN- gamma ), vectors and host cells for their production, and therapeutic methods employing them. The variants are characterized by the substitution of one or more pairs of amino acids selected from Glu8-Ser70, Ala18-His112, Lys81 Leu121, and Gln49-Leu96 by pairs of Cys residues, and optionally by the deletion of from one to ten amino acid residues from C-terminus of the native IFN- gamma sequence. The variants of the invention exhibit greater thermal stability and no loss of biological activity as compared to native-sequence rhIFN- gamma .