US Patent Issued to University Health Network on March 31 for "MHC class II molecules and methods of use thereof" (Canadian Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,590,139, issued on March 31, was assigned to University Health Network (Toronto).

"MHC class II molecules and methods of use thereof" was invented by Naoto Hirano (Toronto) and Kenji Sugata (Toronto).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present disclosure is directed to HLA class II molecules having a higher affinity for CD4 than naturally occurring HLA class II molecules. In certain aspects, the HLA class II molecule comprises a DQ beta chain having (i) an amino acid other than leucine at a position corresponding to amino acid residue 114 of SEQ ID NO: 1, (ii) an amino acid other than valine at a position corresponding to amino acid resid...