5359 results about "Serum ige" patented technology

Fc fusion proteins of human EPO with increased biological activities relative to rHuEPO on a molar basis are disclosed. The HuEPO-L-vFc fusion protein comprises HuEPO, a flexible peptide linker of about 20 or fewer amino acids, and a human IgG Fc variant. The Fc variant is of a non-lytic nature and shows minimal undesirable Fc-mediated side effects. A method is also disclosed to make or produce such fusion proteins at high expression levels. Such HuEPO-L-vFc fusion proteins exhibit extended serum half-life and increased biological activities, leading to improved pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, thus fewer injections will be needed within a period of time.

The present invention encompasses novel antibodies and fragments thereof which immunospecifically bind to one or more RSV antigens and compositions comprising said antibodies and antibody fragments. The present invention encompasses methods preventing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in a human, comprising administering to said human a prophylactically effective amount of one or more antibodies or fragments thereof that immunospecifically bind to one or more RSV antigens, wherein a certain serum titer of said antibodies or antibody fragments is achieved in said human subject. The present invention also encompasses methods for treating or ameliorating symptoms associated with a RSV infection in a human, comprising administering to said human a therapeutically effective amount of one or more antibodies or fragments thereof that immunospecifically bind to one or more RSV antigens, wherein a certain serum titer of said antibodies or antibody fragments is achieved in said human subject. The present invention further encompasses compositions comprising antibodies or fragments thereof that immunospecifically bind to a RSV antigen, and methods using said compositions for detection or diagnosis a RSV infection.

The present invention relates to ligands which bind to human tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) in a manner such that upon binding of these ligands to TNF the biological activity of TNF is modified. In preferred forms the ligand binds to TNF in a manner such that the induction of endothelial procoagulant activity of the TNF is inhibited; the binding of TNF to receptors on endothelial cells is inhibited; the induction of fibrin deposition in the tumor and tumor regression activities of the TNF are enhanced; and the cytotoxicity and receptor binding activities of the TNF are unaffected or enhanced on tumor cells. The ligand is preferably an antibody, F(ab) fragment, single domain antibody (dABs) single chain antibody or a serum binding protein. It is preferred, however, that the ligand is a monoclonal antibody or F(ab) fragment thereof.

Fc fusion proteins of human EPO with increased biological activities relative to rHuEPO on a molar basis are disclosed. The HuEPO-L-vFc fusion protein comprises HuEPO, a flexible peptide linker of about 20 or fewer amino acids, and a human IgG Fc variant. The Fc variant is of a non-lytic nature and shows minimal undesirable Fc-mediated side effects. A method is also disclosed to make or produce such fusion proteins at high expression levels. Such HuEPO-L-vFc fusion proteins exhibit extended serum half-life and increased biological activities, leading to improved pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, thus fewer injections will be needed within a period of time.

In accordance with the present invention, there are provided methods for the extension of serum half-lives of proteinaceous molecules, particularly antibody molecules, and compositions of molecules modified in accordance with the methods of the invention. In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of modifying the half-life of an antibody through providing an antibody containing an FcRn binding domain or the genes encoding such antibody and physically linking the antibody or the antibody as encoded to a second FcRn binding domain. In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molecule that contains at least two distinct FcRn binding moieties.

The present invention relates to amino acid sequences that are capable of binding to serum albumin; to compounds, proteins and polypeptides comprising or essentially consisting of such amino acid sequences; to nucleic acids that encode such amino acid sequences, proteins or polypeptides; to compositions, and in particular pharmaceutical compositions, that comprise such amino acid sequences, proteins and polypeptides; and to uses of such amino acid sequences, proteins and polypeptides. Particularly, the amino acid sequences and compounds of the present invention bind to or otherwise associate with serum albumin in such a way that, when the amino acid sequence or compound is bound to or otherwise associated with a serum albumin molecule in a primate, it exhibits a serum half-life of at least 50% of the natural half-life of serum albumin in said primate.

The present invention encompasses novel antibodies and fragments thereof which immunospecifically bind to one or more RSV antigens and compositions comprising said antibodies and antibody fragments. The present invention encompasses methods preventing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in a human, comprising administering to said human a prophylactically effective amount of one or more antibodies or fragments thereof that immunospecifically bind to one or more RSV antigens, wherein a certain serum titer of said antibodies or antibody fragments is achieved in said human subject. The present invention also encompasses methods for treating or ameliorating symptoms associated with a RSV infection in a human, comprising administering to said human a therapeutically effective amount of one or more antibodies or fragments thereof that immunospecifically bind to one or more RSV antigens, wherein a certain serum titer of said antibodies or antibody fragments is achieved in said human subject. The present invention further encompasses compositions comprising antibodies or fragments thereof that immunospecifically bind to a RSV antigen, and methods using said compositions for detection or diagnosis a RSV infection.

Disclosed and claimed is a new insect cell line, Sf900+, ATCC CRL-12579. The insect cell line was established from Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Spodoptera frugiperda Sf-9 (ATCC CRL-1711) through multiple rounds of limiting dilution and selection in a serum-free insect medium supplemented with added human insulin. The insect cell line is useful in BEVS or as an adjuvant and has many characteristics and advantages. Also disclosed and claimed are recombinant proteins from recombinant baculovirus expression in insect cells such as Sf900+ cells, for instance, HA, NA, EPO, CD4, CEA, and thrombospondin.

The present invention provides for a modified antibody of class IgG, in which at least one amino acid from the heavy chain constant region selected from the group consisting of amino acid residues 250, 314, and 428 is substituted with another amino acid which is different from that present in the unmodified antibody, thereby altering the binding affinity for FcRn and / or the serum half-life in comparison to the unmodified antibody.

The present invention discloses fusion proteins comprising transferrin, lactoferrin or melanotransferrin fused to glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). In one embodiment of the invention, the fusion protein displays increased serum half-life as compared to a GLP-1 peptide in an unfused state. The invention includes a pharmaceutical composition comprising the GLP-1 fusion protein of the invention and a carrier. The fusion protein of the invention can be administered to a subject for treatment of diseases or conditions treatable by GLP-1, including, but not limited to, diabetes, obesity, congestive heart failure and inflammatory bowel syndrome.

Methods are provided for modulating the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism, useful in the treatment of conditions associated with cardiovascular risk. Antisense oligonucleotides targeted to apolipoprotein B reduce the level of apolipoprotein B mRNA, lower serum cholesterol and shift liver gene expression profiles from those of an obese animal towards those of a lean animal. Further provided are methods for improving the cardiovascular risk of a subject through antisense inhibition of apolipoprotein B. Also provided are methods for employing antisense oligonucleotides targeted to apolipoprotein B to modulate a cellular pathway or metabolic process.

The present invention provides a composition comprising HMB and at least one amino acid. The present invention also provides a method for the treatment of disease-associated wasting of an animal, a method for decreasing the serum-level of triglycerides of an animal, a method for decreasing the serum viral load of an animal, and a method for redistributing fat in an animal having a visceral region and a subcutaneous region. All methods comprise administering to the animal a composition comprising HMB and at least one amino acid.

The present invention provides methods for detecting, diagnosing or prognosticating prostate cancer by measuring the levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the serum of an individual. The assay for MIF can be an immunoassay, such as ELISA, or a nucleic assay, such as Nouthern blot. Genetic changes within MIF gene can predict patients that express high levels of MIF.

Compositions and methods are provided for prognostic classification of autoimmune disease patients into subtypes, which subtypes are informative of the patient's need for therapy and responsiveness to a therapy of interest. The patterns of circulating blood levels of serum autoantibodies and / or cytokines provides for a signature pattern that can identify patients likely to benefit from therapeutic intervention as well as discriminate patients that have a high probability of responsiveness to a therapy from those that have a low probability of responsiveness. Additionally, serum autoantibody and / or cytokine signature patterns can be utilized to monitor responses to therapy. Assessment of this signature pattern of autoantibodies and / or cytokines in a patient thus allows improved methods of care. In one embodiment of the invention, the autoimmune disease is rheumatoid arthritis.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a desired polypeptide using rat cells. Specifically, the present invention relates to a process for producing the polypeptide which comprises culturing rat cells such as YB2 / 3HL.P2.G11.16Ag.20 (hereinafter referred to as YB2 / 0), preferably rat cells to which a recombinant DNA comprising DNA encoding a desired polypeptide such as an immunologically functional molecule is introduced, in a medium which does not contain serum (hereinafter referred to as a serum-free medium). Among the desired polypeptides obtained by the process of the present invention, an antibody obtained by using a transformant of YB2 / 0 has a high antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxic activity (hereinafter sometimes referred to as ADCC activity) and is useful as a pharmaceutical agent.

The present invention relates to a methodology of producing antibodies that recognize peptides associated with a tumorigenic or disease state, wherein the peptides are displayed in the context of HLA molecules. These antibodies will mimic the specificity of a T cell receptor (TCR) but will have higher binding affinity such that the molecules may be used as therapeutic, diagnostic and research reagents. The method of producing a T-cell receptor mimic of the present invention includes identifying a peptide of interest, wherein the peptide of interest is capable of being presented by an MHC molecule. Then, an immunogen comprising at least one peptide / MHC complex is formed, wherein the peptide of the peptide / MHC complex is the peptide of interest. An effective amount of the immunogen is then administered to a host for eliciting an immune response, and serum collected from the host is assayed to determine if desired antibodies that recognize a three-dimensional presentation of the peptide in the binding groove of the MHC molecule are being produced. The desired antibodies can differentiate the peptide / MHC complex from the MHC molecule alone, the peptide alone, and a complex of MHC and irrelevant peptide. Finally, the desired antibodies are isolated.

The present invention provides for IgG1 molecules with improved characteristics. In particular, substitution mutations are provided that, in combination, facilitate improved placental transfer, improved serum half-life and improved FcRn binding. Substitution mutations are also provided, that in combination, can be used to block FcRn function and thereby increase the clearance rates of other (endogenous or exogenous) IgGs, block placental transport of IgGs and have increased affinity / reduced pH dependence for FcRn binding.

The present invention provides reagents and assays for the quantification of hBNP in biological fluid samples such as plasma or serum. Antibodies are provided which are monospecific to epitopes comprising the amino acid sequences 5-13, 1-10 and 15-25 of hBNP. These antibodies, and peptide fragments containing these sequences, can be employed in the assays of the invention, which may be carried out in a sandwich format or a competition format.

Cancer associated antigens have been identified by autologous antibody screening of libraries of nucleic acids expressed in small cell lung cancer cells using antisera from cancer patients. The invention relates to nucleic acids and encoded polypeptides which are cancer associated antigens expressed in patients afflicted with small cell lung cancer. The invention provides, among other things, isolated nucleic acid molecules, expression vectors containing those molecules and host cells transfected with those molecules. The invention also provides isolated proteins and peptides, antibodies to those proteins and peptides and cytotoxic T lymphocytes which recognize the proteins and peptides. Fragments of the foregoing including functional fragments and variants also are provided. Kits containing the foregoing molecules additionally are provided. The molecules provided by the invention can be used in the diagnosis, monitoring, research, or treatment of conditions characterized by the expression of one or more cancer associated antigens.

The present invention relates to a method for decreasing elevated serum / plasma LDL-cholesterol levels or LDL-cholesterol levels and CRP levels in a mammal in need thereof. The methods comprises administering an effective amount of a tetracycline formulation. In one embodiment, the tetracycline formulation is a non-antibacterial tetracycline. In another embodiment, the tetracycline formulation is an antibacterial tetracycline at a sub-antibacterial amount.

The invention provides a novel human Mab Fab, cloned by phage display, and its use in diagnostic and therapeutic methods. In particular the invention provides a method for analyzing the OxLDL components of atherosclerotic plaques in vivo and a means to determine their relative pathology. As the method is based on a human Fab rather than a mouse Mab, the progress or regression of the disease may be monitored over time. The antibody may also be used for the analysis of surgical or serum samples ex vivo for the presence of OxLDL. The antibody may also be used to target therapeutic agents to the site of atherosclerotic plaques or may have use as a therapeutic agent itself.

Methods and compositions for identifying ovarian cancer in a patient sample are provided. The methods of the invention comprise detecting overexpression of at least one biomarker in a body sample, wherein the biomarker is selectively overexpressed in ovarian cancer. In preferred embodiments, the body sample is a serum sample. The biomarkers of the invention include any genes or proteins that are selectively overexpressed in ovarian cancer, including, for example, acute phase reactants, lipoproteins, proteins involved in the regulation of the complement system, regulators of apoptosis, proteins that bind hemoglobin, heme, or iron, cytostructural proteins, enzymes that detoxify metabolic byproducts, growth factors, and hormone transporters. In some aspects of the invention, overexpression of a biomarker of interest is detected at the protein level using biomarker-specific antibodies or at the nucleic acid level using nucleic acid hybridization techniques. Kits for practicing the methods of the invention are further provided.

The present invention addresses the need to improve the yields of viral vectors when grown in cell culture systems. In particular, it has been demonstrated that for adenovirus, the use of low-medium perfusion rates in an attached cell culture system provides for improved yields. In other embodiments, the inventors have shown that there is improved Ad-p53 production cells grown in serum-free conditions, and in particular in serum-free suspension culture. Also important to the increase of yields is the use of detergent lysis. Combination of these aspects of the invention permits purification of virus by a single chromatography step that results in purified virus of the same quality as preparations from double CsCl banding using an ultracentrifuge.

This invention relates to a galenical gel formulation for nasal administration of neurotransmitters / neuromodulators such as dopamine, serotonin or pregnenolone and progesterone. The special lipophilic or partly lipophilic system of the invention leads to high bioavailability of the active ingredient in plasma and brain caused by sustained serum levels and / or direct or partly direct transport from nose to the brain.