C-terminally truncated interferon alpha variants
View Patent ↗The present invention provides biologically active variants of human α-2b-interferon. The variants contain carboxy terminus truncations when compared with the amino acid sequence of full-length human α-2b-interferon. It is the novel finding of the present invention that these truncated variants have the biological activity of full-length human α-2b-interferon. The invention encompasses these biologically active variant α-interferons, as well as polynucleotides encoding these interferons. Expression cassettes comprising these polynucleotides and host cells comprising the expression cassettes are also provided. The invention also provides compositions comprising variant α-interferon polypeptides and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
1. An isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:10.
2. An isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5.
3. An isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide consisting of a signal peptide operably linked to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:10.
4. An expression cassette comprising the isolated polynucleotide of claim 1 .
5. A host plant cell comprising the expression cassette of claim 4 .
6. The host plant cell of claim 5 , wherein said plant cell is a duckweed cell.
7. The isolated polynucleotide of claim 3 , wherein said signal peptide is a plant signal peptide.
8. An expression cassette comprising the isolated polynucleotide of claim 3 .
9. A host plant cell comprising the expression cassette of claim 8 .
10. The host plant cell of claim 9 , wherein said plant cell is a duckweed cell.