The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 13, 2022
Filed:
Nov. 02, 2018
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US);
Cambridge Enterprise Limited, Cambridge, GB;
Aleksei Aksimentiev, Urbana, IL (US);
Ulrich F. Keyser, Cambridge, GB;
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Urbana, IL (US);
CAMBRIDGE ENTERPRISE LIMITED, Cambridge, GB;
Abstract
The present invention provides compositions and methods for transferring phospholipids and other molecules between the leaflets of a cell membrane. The compositions comprise at least one nucleic acid or compound having a hydrophilic region, where the composition is able to form a nanostructure that forms a toroidal pore in a lipid membrane. The nucleic acid or hydrophilic region-containing compound further contains an attached molecule capable of inserting the nanostructure into the lipid membrane. The invention also provides methods for scrambling lipids and other molecules in a cell membrane, which can be used to alter the function of a selected cell or to facilitate the death of the cell. The scrambling activity of synthetic scramblases described herein outperforms previously known enzymatically active DNA nanostructures and naturally occurring scramblases, in some cases by several orders of magnitude.