Claims
- 1. An isolated Mcyobacterium vaccae polypeptide comprising an immunogenic portion of SEQ ID NO: 89, wherein the immunogenic portion comprises at least 50 contiguous residues of SEQ ID NO: 89.
- 2. An isolated Mycobacterium vaccae polypeptide comprising an immunogenic portion of SEQ ID NO: 89, wherein the immunogemic portion has a biological activity selected from the group consisting of:
- (a) an ability to stimulate cell proliferation in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-immune individual;
- (b) an ability to stimulate interferon-gamma production in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-immune individual; and
- (c) an ability to stimulate IL-12 production in macrophages.
- 3. A fusion protein comprising at least one polypeptide according to any one of claims 1 and 2.
- 4. An isolated polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 89.
- 5. The isolated polypeptide of claim 4, wherein the polypeptide has a biological activity selected from the group consisting of:
- (a) an ability to stimulate cell proliferation in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-immune individual;
- (b) an ability to stimulate interferon-gamma production in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-immune individual; and
- (c) an ability to stimulate IL-12 production in macrophages.
- 6. A fusion protein comprising at least one polypeptide according to any one of claims 4 and 5.
- 7. An isolated polypeptide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of sequences having at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NO: 89 as determined by the computer algorithm BLASTP.
- 8. The isolated polypeptide of claim 7, wherein the polypeptide has a biological activity selected from the group consisting of:
- (a) an ability to stimulate cell proliferation in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-immune individual;
- (b) an ability to stimulate interferon-gamma production in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-immune individual; and
- (c) an ability to stimulate IL-12 production in macrophages.
- 9. A fusion protein comprising at least one polypeptide according to any one of claims 7 and 8.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/997,362, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,287 filed Dec. 23, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/873,970, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,361 filed Jun. 12, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/705,347, filed Aug. 29, 1996.
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Continuation in Parts (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
997362 |
Dec 1997 |
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Parent |
873970 |
Jun 1997 |
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Parent |
705347 |
Aug 1996 |
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