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:
Jan. 25, 1994
Filed:
May. 15, 1990
J R Jackson, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Thomas N Parks, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
University of Utah Research Foundation, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Abstract
Methods and compositions for blocking Ca.sup.2+ channels within an organism are provided. For example, a toxin was isolated from the Agelenopsis aperta spider. The toxin comprised a 48 amino acid toxin having a molecular weight of approximately 5,274. This toxin was found to block calcium channels within the central nervous system. The Agelenopsis gene responsible for producing this toxin has been identified and cloned. This gene and/or its derivatives provide a mechanism by which the toxin can be produced using recombinant DNA expression technologies. The present invention further relates to methods of treating neurological diseases by applying the toxins isolated and identified. The toxin may provide beneficial effects on certain neurological conditions including seizures, ischemic-hypoxic CNS damage, and neurodegenerative disorders. It is also found that the toxins are effective as tags in probing calcium channels.