38 results about "Aggrecan" patented technology

Surfaces useful for cell culture comprise a support to which is bound a CAR material, and, bound to the CAR material, collagen VI or a biologically active fragment or variant thereof and, optionally, one or more other ECM proteins (or fragments or variants thereof) such as elastin, fibronectin, vitronectin, tenascin, laminin, entactin, aggrecan, decorin, collagen I, collagen III, and collagen IV. Also, optionally present on the surface is one or more polycationic polymers, such as poly-D-lysine or poly-D-ornithine. This surface is used in cell culture to promote cell attachment, survival, and/or proliferation of a number of different cell types such as (a) liver cells (e.g., HepG2 tumor cells, and a newly discovered line of rat liver epithelial stem cells) (b) osteoblasts, such as the murine cell line MC3T3 cell line and (c) primary bone marrow cells. Kits comprising the surfaces and additional reagents are also disclosed.

Co-incubation of an amyloid protein with sulfated macromolecules as a method for the formation of amyloid plaques. The amyloid protein may be the beta-amyloid protein or the prion protein or the like. Amyoid plaque formation in one embodiment proceeds in vitro and desireably produces amyloid plaques that stain with Congo red and demonstrate a maltese-cross pattern when viewed under polarized light. The method also produces amyloid plaques that demonstrate an "amyloid star" appearance when viewed by transmission electron microscopy. Sulfated macromolecules include a sulfated proteoglycan selected from the group consisting of perlecan, ~220 kilodalton heparan sulfate proteoglyean, glypican, cerebroglycan, aggrecan, synaptoglycan (SV2PG), syndecan, N-syndecan (also known as syndecan-3), syndecan-1, syndecan-4, neurocan, phosphacan, decorin, biglycan, versican, amphiglycan, lumican, PG-M, PG-M (3), agrin, betaglycan, claustrin, brevican, appican, epican, neuroglycan-C, and fragments thereof. Thw sulfated macromolecule may be a sulfated glycosaminoglycan selected from the group consisting of heparin, heparan sulfate, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, keratan sulfate, and fragments thereof. An in vivo assay is also presented for selecting a candidate therapeutic agent for inhibiting or disrupting amyloid plaque deposition or persistence. The assay includes a) pre-forming congophilic maltese-cross amyloid plaques in vitro following incubation of an amyloid protein and a selected sulfated macromolecule, b) using a first cannula and osmotic pump to continuously infuse for a selected duration the pre-formed congophilic maltese-cross amyloid plaques into a tissue or organ, c) changing the first cannulae and osmotic pump with a second cannulae and osmotic pump to administer the candidate therapeutic, and d) detecting the candidate therapeutic's ability to disrupt, reduce, or eliminate congophilic maltese-cross amyloid plaque deposition/persistence in the tissue or organ.

The present invention features methods of using ADAMTS-8 proteins or their functional derivatives to cleave aggrecan or other proteoglycan molecules. The present invention also features methods for identifying ADAMTS-8 modulators that are capable of inhibiting or enhancing ADAMTS-8 proteolytic activities. In addition, the present invention features pharmaceutical compositions comprising ADAMTS-8 proteins or their derivatives or modulators. These pharmaceutical compositions can be used to treat diseases that are characterized by deficiencies or abnormalities in proteoglycan cleavage or metabolism.

The present invention relates to polypeptides binding Aggrecan as well as ADAMTS5 and/or MMP13, more in particular to polypeptides that comprise or essentially consist of immunoglobulins binding Aggrecan as well as immunoglobulins binding ADAMTS5 and/or immunoglobulins binding MMP13 (also referred to herein as “polypeptides of the invention”, and “immunoglobulin(s) of the invention”, respectively). The invention also relates to constructs comprising such immunoglobulins, such as immunoglobulin single variable domains (ISVDs) or polypeptides as well as nucleic acids encoding such immunoglobulins or polypeptides (also referred to herein as “nucleic acid(s) of the invention”; to methods for preparing such immunoglobulins, polypeptides and constructs; to host cells expressing or capable of expressing such immunoglobulins or polypeptides; to compositions, and in particular to pharmaceutical compositions, that comprise such immunoglobulins, polypeptides, constructs, nucleic acids and/or host cells; and to uses of immunoglobulins, polypeptides, constructs, nucleic acids, host cells and/or compositions, in particular for prophylactic and/or therapeutic purposes, such as the prophylactic and/or therapeutic purposes mentioned herein. Other aspects, embodiments, advantages and applications of the invention will become clear from the further description herein.

The present invention relates to the identification of the cytosolic phosphoprotein CRMP4b as a protein that physically and functionally interacts with RhoA to mediate neurite outgrowth inhibition. siRNA-mediated knockdown of CRMP4 promotes neurite outgrowth on myelin substrates indicating a critical role for CRMP4 in neurite outgrowth inhibition. Disruption of CRMP4b-RhoA binding with a competitive inhibitor attenuates neurite outgrowth inhibition on myelin and aggrecan substrates. Stimulation of neuronal growth cones with Nogo leads to co-localization of CRMP4b and RhoA at discrete regions within the actin-rich central and peripheral domains of the growth cone indicative of a potential function in cytoskeletal rearrangements during neurite outgrowth inhibition. Together these data indicate that a RhoA-CRMP4b complex forms in response to inhibitory challenges in the growth cone environment and regulate cytoskeletal dynamics at distinct sites necessary for axon outgrowth inhibition. Competitive inhibition of CRMP4b-RhoA binding suggests a novel, highly specific therapeutic avenue for promoting regeneration following CNS injury.

The invention discloses application of morroniside to preparation of osteoarthritis treating drugs and relates to application of the morroniside. The morroniside can be used for promoting the in-vitro cultured human osteoarthritis chondrocytes to survive, weakening the chondrocyte index of the chondrocytes, improving the expression levels of II type collagen and proteoglycan Aggrecan in extracellular matrixes of the in-vitro cultured human osteoarthritis chondrocytes, improving the phosphorylation levels of intracellular protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) and extracellular regulated protein kinase of the human osteoarthritis chondrocytes, effectively promoting the survival of the human osteoarthritis chondrocytes and weakening the apoptosis activity of the human osteoarthritis chondrocytes. According to the application, the injury of the osseous tissues in osteoarthritis models of experimental rats is effectively reduced, the cartilage layer thickness is increased and the extracellular polysaccharides content of the cartilage is improved.

In an in vitro diagnostic test for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, the amount or presence in a sample of anisomerised or optically inverted protein fragment is measured which derives from perlecan, bigylcan, decorin, fibrillin-1 or protocadherin or which is a specific sequence from aggrecan, type II collagen, COMP or CILP.