Anti-IL-6 antibody nucleic acid molecules and methods

1. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding an IL-6 antibody, comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:98 and/or the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:100.

2. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding an IL-6 antibody, comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:98 and the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:100.

3. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding an IL-6 antibody, comprising the nucleotide sequence encoding a light chain variable region amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:97 and/or the nucleotide sequence encoding a heavy chain variable region amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:99.

4. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding an isolated IL-6 antibody, comprising the nucleotide sequence encoding a light chain variable region amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:97 and/or the nucleotide sequence encoding a heavy chain variable region amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:99.

5. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence encoding a light chain variable region and the nucleotide sequence encoding a heavy chain variable region of an IL-6 antibody, said light chain variable region comprising:

a complementarity determining region light chain 1 (CDRL1) amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:132 comprising the sequence S-X 1 -X 2 -X 3 -X 4 -V-X 5 -Y-M-Y, wherein X 1 is A or G, X 2 is S or R, X 3 is H, I, S, or Y, X 4 is S or Y, and X 5 is S or F;

a CDRL2 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:133 comprising the sequence D-X 6 -S-X 7 -L-X 8 -S, wherein X 6 is F, L, M, or T, X 7 is N or E, and X 8 is A or T; and

a CDRL3 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:134 comprising the sequence X 9 -X 10 -W-S-G-Y-P-Y-T, wherein X 9 is M, C, or S, and X 10 is Q or C;

said heavy chain variable region comprising:

a complementarity determining region heavy chain 1 (CDRH1) amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:135 comprising the sequence G-F-X 11 -X 12 -S-X 13 -F-A-X 14 -S, wherein X 11 is T or Q, X 12 is F, S, or T, X 13 is S or P, and X 14 is L or M;

a CDRH2 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:136 comprising the sequence K-X 15 -S-X 16 -G-G-S-X 17 -X 18 -Y-X 19 -X 20 -D-T-X 21 -X 22 -X 23 , wherein X 15 is A or I, X 16 is S or P, X 17 is Y or W, X 18 is T, E, or Y, X 19 is Y or F, X 20 is P, S, D, or F, X 21 is V or D, X 22 is T or A, and X 23 is G or P; and

a CDRH3 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:137 comprising the sequence Q-L-W-G-X 24 -Y-A-L-D-X 25 , wherein X 24 is S, Y, T, or N, and X 25 is Y, T, F, or I.

6. An isolated nucleic acid vector comprising the isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 5 .

7. An isolated prokaryotic or eukaryotic host cell comprising the isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 5 .

8. The isolated host cell according to claim 7 , wherein said host cell is at least one selected from COS-1, COS-7, HEK293, BHK21, CHO, BSC-1, Hep G2, 653, SP2/0, 293, HeLa, myeloma, or lymphoma cells.

9. A method for producing at least one IL-6 antibody, comprising translating the nucleic acid molecule according to claim 5 under conditions, such that the IL-6 antibody is expressed and recovered.

10. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence encoding a light chain variable region and the nucleotide sequence encoding a heavy chain variable region of an IL-6 antibody, said light chain variable region nucleotide sequence comprising:

a complementarity determining region light chain 1 (CDRL1) nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:4;

a CDRL2 nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:22; and

a CDRL3 nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:30;

said heavy chain variable region nucleotide sequence comprising:

a complementarity determining region heavy chain 1 (CDRH1) nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:40;

a CDRH2 nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:60; and

a CDRH3 nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:90.

11. The isolated nucleic acid molecule of claim 10 , further comprising, interspersed between the complementarity determining region nucleotide sequences, nucleotide sequences encoding a human light chain framework region 1 (FRL1) of SEQ ID NO:105, a FRL2 of SEQ ID NO:106, a FRL3 of SEQ ID NO:107, a FRL4 of SEQ ID NO:108, a human heavy chain framework region 1 (FRH1) of SEQ ID NO:109, a FRH2 of SEQ ID NO:110, a FRH3 of SEQ ID NO:111, and a FRH4 of SEQ ID NO:112.

12. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence encoding a light chain variable region and the nucleotide sequence encoding a heavy chain variable region of an IL-6 antibody, said light chain variable region amino acid sequence comprising:

a complementarity determining region light chain 1 (CDRL1) amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:3;

a CDRL2 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:21; and

a CDRL3 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:29;

said heavy chain variable region amino acid sequence comprising:

a complementarity determining region heavy chain 1 (CDRH1) amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:39;

a CDRH2 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:59; and

a CDRH3 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:89.