Vanderbilt University

Celtek Bioscience, LLC

Yao-Zhong Lin

Jack Jacek Hawiger

Mauricio Rojas

John P Donahue

Ruth Ann Veach

Robert D Collins

Danya Liu

Xue Yan Liu

Daniel Robinson

ZhongJia Tan

Sheila Downs

Zhong-Jia Tan

Claudia Budu

The present invention relates to the delivery of biologically active molecules, such as peptides, nucleic acids and therapeutic agents, into the interior of cells by administering to the cells a complex comprising the molecule linked to an importation competent signal peptide. Such delivery can be utilized for purposes such as peptide therapy, gene transfer, and antisense therapy to regulate and/or eradicate systemic inflammatory response syndromes such as endotoxic shock.

Compositions for importing biologically active molecules into cells

The present invention relates to the delivery of biologically active molecules, such as peptides, nucleic acids and therapeutic agents, into the interior of cells by administering to the cells a complex comprising the molecule linked to an importation competent signal peptide. Such delivery can be utilized for purposes such as peptide therapy, gene transfer, and antisense therapy.

Method for importing biologically active molecules into cells

The present invention relates to the delivery of biologically active molecules, such as peptides, into the interior of cells by administering to the cells a complex comprising the molecule linked to an importation competent signal peptide. Such delivery can be utilized, for example, to treat and/or prevent inflammatory conditions, e.g., but not limited to, systemic inflammatory reactions such as endotoxic shock, localized inflammatory reactions such as inflammatory skin diseases and conditions, and inflammatory diseases such as autoimmune diseases.

Cell permeable peptides for inhibition of inflammatory reactions and methods of use

The invention provides cell permeable peptides and peptide agents that inhibit anti-apoptotic processes in cancer cells to promote tumor cell death, as well as a method for providing therapeutic treatment for cancer. The composition may be delivered in conjunction with a conventional chemotherapeutic agent to provide a synergistic effect that significantly increases the effectiveness of the chemotherapeutic agent to destroy cancer cells. The invention also provides kits or systems for cancer therapy, comprising at least one peptide agent for inhibiting the anti-apoptotic effects of NF-kB and at least one chemotherapeutic agent for stimulating the cellular apoptotic pathway.

Composition and method for increasing apoptosis in cancer cells

The invention describes a membrane-translocating peptide sequence (MTS) which facilitates entry of polypeptides and proteins into cells. Also described is an isolated nucleotide sequence encoding the membrane-translocating peptide and a method of using this sequence to genetically engineer proteins with cell membrane permeability. The MTS, and the method of genetically engineering proteins with cell membrane permeability, are useful for polypeptide and protein delivery for human and veterinary applications such as vaccine delivery and cancer therapy.

Sequence and method for genetic engineering of proteins with cell membrane translocating activity

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Nashville, TN, United States of America

Yao-Zhong Lin