The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 07, 1993
Filed:
Sep. 17, 1992
Willem Van Eden, Bilthoven, NL;
Jelle E Thole, Diemen, NL;
Johannes D Van Embden, Utrecht, NL;
Ruurd Van Der Zee, Groningen, NL;
Irun R Cohen, Rehovot, IL;
YEDA Research and Development Co., Ltd., Rehovot, IL;
Abstract
A Mycobacterium bovis BCG polypeptide having a molecular mass of about 64 kD was found to be useful as an immunogen inducing resistance to autoimmune arthritis and similar autoimmune diseases. The invention relates to methods of treatment and diagnosis of autoimmune diseases especially arthritic conditions, in which said polypeptide is used. The invention also relates to a polypeptide comprising the epitope essential for this activity. The polypeptide has the formula ##STR1## Further, the invention relates to polypeptides showing sequential homology with said polypeptide, and to derivatives and multimers thereof. Also, microorganisms expressing the polypeptides either as such or as part of a fusion protein or as a multimer, form part of the invention. Finally, the invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions, diagnostic compositions and test kits comprising a compound according to the invention.