A CONJUGATE OF A COLLAGEN II-BINDING FRAGMENT AND AN ARTHRITIS-AFFECTING PHARMACEUTICAL SUBSTANCE

摘要

The invention provides a conjugate of a collagen II-binding chondroadherin fragment and an arthritis-affecting pharmaceutical substance, such as a cytokine, a cytokine antagonist and/or a protease inhibitor. It has turned out that chondroadherin specifically interacts with collagen II thereby forming a complex. Release of cartilage extracellular matrix components, such as chondroadherin and collagen II is a symptom of arthitis. By providing a conjugate according to the present invention it is therefore possible to direct arthitis-affecting pharmaceutical substances directly to the pathogenic tissue. The inventive conjugate can be manufactured by chemical crosslinking. In case the arthitis-affecting pharmaceutical substance is a protein or a peptide, the conjugate can be a fusion protein and be produced by genetic engineering techniques.