Hla-e binding

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of testing a compound for biological activity, which method comprises providing cells expressing one of the CD94/NKG2 family of receptors, contacting the cells with recombinant HLA-E under binding conditions in the presence of the test compound, and determining whether the presence of the compound affects the binding of HLA-E to the cells. The HLA-E property of binding to CD94/NKG2 receptors on NK cells and a subset of CD8+ T cells is useful for targeting CD94/NKG2+ cells for a variety of purposes such as identification, isolation, killing or inactivation.

1 . A method of preventing HLA-E-mediated inhibition of NK cell activity, comprising:
 (a) selecting a compound that interferes with HLA-E-binding to an inhibitory CD94/NKG2 receptor; and   (b) contacting an NK or T cell expressing an inhibitory CD94/NKG2 receptor with the compound.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the inhibitory CD94/NKG2-receptor is NKG2A. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compound is an antibody. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the antibody is an anti-CD94 antibody. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the antibody is an anti-NKG2A antibody. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the antibody is an anti-HLA-E antibody. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compound is a multimer of HLA-E comprising two or more HLA-E molecules. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the multimer has an enhanced binding capability compared to non-multimeric HLA-E. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the multimer comprises recombinant soluble HLA-E molecules. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the recombinant soluble HLA-E molecules are attached via a linker molecule.