Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Baylor College of Medicine

Eric M Shooter

Mark E Furth

Stephen P Squinto

Ronald M Lindsay

Ulrich Suter

George D Yancopoulos

James R Lupski

Nancy Y Ip

Pragna I Patel

Nancy P Ip

Marino DeLeon

Andrew Welcher

G Jackson Snipes

Ueli Suter

The disclosed invention includes a a peripheral myelin protein, PMP-22, which is present predominantly in the peripheral nervous system and purified nucleic acids which encode the protein. Also included are oligonucleotide probes and primers derived from such sequences, and methods for the use of such sequences, probes and primers in detecting peripheral neuropathies.

Peripheral myelin protein coding sequence and method

The present invention relates to chimeric neurotrophic factors which comprise at least a portion of a naturally occurring cellular factor and a portion of at least one other molecule such that the resulting chimeric molecule has neurotrophic activity. It is based, in part, on the discovery that chimeric molecules comprising portions of both NGF and BDNF are likely to possess neurotrotrophic activity, and in some cases exhibit a spectrum of activity larger than that of either parent molecule. It is further based on the discovery that chimeric molecules comprising neurotrophic factor sequences as well as additional peptide sequences may retain neurotrophic activity, and in some cases may exhibit a more potent activity than the parent factor. The chimeric neurotrophic factor molecules of the invention provide a number of advantages relative to naturally occurring neurotrophic factors. Chimeric neurotrophic factors may be used to provide, for example, the activity of two neurotrophic factors in a single molecule, or may serve as superagonists of an endogenous neurotrophic factor, thereby enabling an increased biological response at lower doses.

Multitrophic and multifunctional chimeric neurotrophic factors

The present invention relates to chimeric neurotrophic factors which comprise at least a portion of a naturally occurring cellular factor and a portion of at least one other molecule such that the resulting chimeric molecule has neurotrophic activity. It is based, in part, on the discovery that chimeric molecules comprising portions of both NGF and BDNF are likely to possess neurotrotrophic activity, and in some cases exhibit a spectrum of activity larger than that of either parent molecule. It is further based on the discovery that chimeric molecules comprising neurotrophic factor sequences as well as additional peptide sequences may retain neurotrophic activity, and in some cases may exhibit a more potent activity than the parent factor. The chimeric neurotrophic factor molecules of the invention provide a number of advantages relative to naturally occurring neurotrophic factors. Chimeric neurotrophic factors may be used to provide, for example, the activity of two neurotrophic factors in a single molecule, or may serve as superagonists of an endogenous neurotrophic factor, thereby enabling an increased biological response at lower doses. Nucleic acids and plasmids encoding the chimeras are disclosed.

Multitrophic and multifunctional chimeric neurotrophic factors, and

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Portola Valley, CA, United States of America

Eric M Shooter