DISULPHIDE BOND-STABILIZED FUNCTIONAL SOLUBLE MHC CLASS II HETERODIMERS

摘要

The present invention relates to disulphide bond stabilized recombinant MHC class II molecules. In particular, the present invention provides a recombinant MHC class II molecule, which comprises: (i) all or part of the extracellular portion of an MHC class II α chain; (ii) all or part of the extracellular portion of an MHC class II &bgr; chain; wherein (i) and (ii) provide a functional peptide binding domain and wherein (i) and (ii) are linked by a disulphide bond between cysteine residues located in the α2 domain of said α chain and the &bgr;2 domain of said &bgr; chain, wherein said cysteine residues are not present in native MHC class II α2 and &bgr;2 domains. Methods of producing these molecules in prokaryotic systems and various uses of these molecules form further aspects.