299 results about "Immune Stimulation" patented technology

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing blood cells or haemopoietic cells, e.g. red blood cells (erythrocytes), granulocytes, mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and / or blood platelets, in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient and / or vehicle, wherein the cells are transfected with at least one mRNA comprising at least one region coding for at least one antigen. The invention further discloses a method of preparing the aforesaid pharmaceutical composition and the use of blood cells transfected in this way for the preparation of drugs or pharmaceutical compositions for immune stimulation against the antigens encoded by the mRNA. The subjects according to the invention are used especially for the therapy and / or prophylaxis of carcinoses or infectious diseases and can also be employed in gene therapy.

The invention provides methods and compositions useful for modulating signaling through Toll-like receptors. The methods involve contacting a TLR-expressing cell with a small molecule having a core structure including at least two rings. Certain of the compounds are 4-primary amino quinolines. Many of the compounds and methods are useful specifically for inhibiting immune stimulation involving at least one of TLR9, TLR8, TLR7, and TLR3. The methods may have use in the treatment of autoimmunity, inflammation, allergy, asthma, graft rejection, graft versus host disease, infection, sepsis, cancer, and immunodeficiency.

Methods and compositions are provided for extending the clinical utility of IFN-α in the treatment of a variety of viral and proliferative disorders. Among other aspects, the invention provides methods which increase the efficacy of IFN-α treatment and reduce IFN-α treatment-related side effects. In addition, methods are provided for supporting the survival and for activating natural interferon producing cells (IPCs) in vitro without exogenous IL-3 or GM-CSF. The invention is based on the discovery that certain CpG and non-CpG ISNAs promote survival and stimulation of IPCs.

The invention relates to methods for preventing or reducing antigen-stimulated, granulocyte-mediated inflammation in tissue of an antigen-sensitized mammal host by delivering an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide to the host. In addition, methods for using the immunostimulatory oligonucleotides to boost a mammal host's immune responsiveness to a sensitizing antigen (without immunization of the host by the antigen) and shifting the host's immune responsiveness to a Th1 phenotype to achieve various therapeutic ends are provided. Kits for practicing the methods of the invention are also provided.

The present invention relates to an immune-stimulating adjuvant in the form of a lipid-modified nucleic acid, optionally in combination with further adjuvants. The invention relates further to a pharmaceutical composition and to a vaccine, each containing an immune-stimulating adjuvant according to the invention, at least one active ingredient and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and / or further auxiliary substances and additives and / or further adjuvants. The present invention relates likewise to the use of the pharmaceutical composition according to the invention and of the vaccine according to the invention for the treatment of infectious diseases or cancer diseases. Likewise, the present invention includes the use of the immune-stimulating adjuvant according to the invention in the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of cancer diseases or infectious diseases.

The present invention relates generally to methods and products for activating dendritic cells. In particular, the invention relates to oligonucleotides which have a specific sequence including at least one unmethylated CpG dinucleotide which are useful for activating dendritic cells. The methods are useful for in vitro, ex-vivo, and in vivo methods such as cancer immunotherapeutics, treatment of infectious disease and treatment of allergic disease.

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing blood cells or haemopoietic cells, e.g. red blood cells (erythrocytes), granulocytes, mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and / or blood platelets, in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient and / or vehicle, wherein the cells are transfected with at least one mRNA comprising at least one region coding for at least one antigen. The invention further discloses a method of preparing the aforesaid pharmaceutical composition and the use of blood cells transfected in this way for the preparation of drugs or pharmaceutical compositions for immune stimulation against the antigens encoded by the mRNA. The subjects according to the invention are used especially for the therapy and / or prophylaxis of carcinoses or infectious diseases and can also be employed in gene therapy.

The present invention provides compositions comprising interfering RNA (e.g., siRNA, aiRNA, miRNA) that target polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1) expression and methods of using such compositions to silence PLK-1 expression. More particularly, the present invention provides unmodified and chemically modified interfering RNA molecules which silence PLK-1 expression and methods of use thereof. The present invention also provides serum-stable nucleic acid-lipid particles (e.g., SNALP) comprising an interfering RNA molecule described herein, a cationic lipid, and a non-cationic lipid, which can further comprise a conjugated lipid that inhibits aggregation of particles. The present invention further provides methods of silencing PLK-1 gene expression by administering an interfering RNA molecule described herein to a mammalian subject. The present invention additionally provides methods of identifying and / or modifying PLK-1 interfering RNA having immunostimulatory properties. Methods for sensitizing a cell such as a cancer cell to the effects of a chemotherapy drug comprising sequentially delivering PLK-1 interfering RNA followed by the chemotherapy drug are also provided.

The invention provides methods and compositions useful for modulating signaling through Toll-like receptors. The methods involve contacting a TLR-expressing cell with a small molecule having a core structure including at least two rings. Certain of the compounds are 4-primary amino quinolines. Many of the compounds and methods are useful specifically for inhibiting immune stimulation involving at least one of TLR9, TLR8, TLR7, and TLR3. The methods may have use in the treatment of autoimmunity, inflammation, allergy, asthma, graft rejection, graft versus host disease, infection, sepsis, cancer, and immunodeficiency.

Vaccine compositions comprising (a) an oligonucleotide, (b) and immune stimulating complex and (c) an antigen induce a strong interferon-gamma immune response. Both oligonucleotides containing immune stimulatory motifs and oligonucleotides lacking immune stimulatory motifs contribute to an interferon-gamma response when administered with an immune stimulating complex.

The present invention provides lipidoids that can be used to modulate the immune response in a subject. Lipidoids are prepared by the conjugate addition of an amine to an acrylate to acrylamide. The lipidoids form complexes or particles with an immunostimulatory polynucleotide, which are then administerd to a subject. Such compositions have been found to stimulate the production of cytokines and increase both humoral and cell-mediate immune response. The invention also provides pharmaceuti-cal compositions thereof and methods for using the same.

The invention provides classes of immunomodulatory compositions which comprise an average of one or more immunostimulatory sequence (ISS) containing polynucleotide conjugated, or attached, to antigen. The extent of conjugation affects immunomodulatory properties, such as extent of antigen-specific antibody formation, including Th1-associated antibody formation, and thus these various conjugate classes are useful for modulating the type and extent of immune response. The invention also includes methods of modulating an immune response using these compositions.

Nucleic acid sequences containing unmethylated CpG dinucleotides that modulate an immune response including stimulating a Th1 pattern of immune activation, cytokine production, NK lytic activity, and B cell proliferation are disclosed. The sequences are also useful as a synthetic adjuvant.

Nucleic acid sequences containing unmethylated CpG dinucleotides that modulate an immune response including stimulating a Th1 pattern of immune activation, cytokine production, NK lytic activity, and B cell proliferation are disclosed. The sequences are also useful a synthetic adjuvant.

A novel formulation is provided that serves to inhibit the inflammatory response in animals. The formulation comprises, as a first component an effective amount of a curcuminoid species and an effective amount of a second component selected from the group consisting of an alpha-acid species or a beta-acid species or derivatives thereof. The composition provides synergistic anti-inflammatory effects in response to physical or chemical injury or abnormal immune stimulation due to a biological agent or unknown etiology.

Compositions and methods have been developed for transporting compounds across membranes with little or no toxicity and, when targeted through the appropriate routes of administration (i.e., lung, gastrointestinal (GI) tract), little or no immune stimulation. The compositions can mediate cellular delivery of compounds that would otherwise not enter cells and enhance the intracellular delivery of compounds that would otherwise enter cells inefficiently. The methods are carried out by contacting a proximal face of a lipid bilayer or membrane (e.g. the surface of an intact cell) with a complex containing a compound (e.g., a therapeutic agent) and a diketopiperazine (DKP). DKP and the compound are non-covalently associated with each other or covalently bound to each other.

The invention provides compounds having increased or reduced immunostimulatory effect, said compounds comprising a CpG dinucleotide and an immunomodulatory moiety wherein the increased or reduced immunomodulatory effect is relative to a similar compound lacking the immunomodulatorv moiety.

The invention provides methods for modulating the immune response caused by CpG dinucleotide-containing compounds. The methods according to the invention enables both decreasing the immunostimulatory effect for antisense applications, as well as increasing the immunostimulatory effect for immunotherapy applications.

The invention involves methods and compositions of an immunostimulatory nucleic acid in oil-in-water emulsions for topical delivery. The compositions can be used to stimulate immune responses, particularly useful in the prevention and / or treatment of infectious disease and cancer.

The invention relates to the use of polydextrose for stimulating the immune response (IgA) in the gastrointestinal tract of a mammal. Furthermore, the invention provides a method to potentiate the immunostimulative effect of polydextrose by mixing at least one polyol with polydextrose, said polyol being effective to synergistically increase the immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentration in the gut of a mammal. On the other hand, the invention provides also compositions containing polydextrose and polyols in which the laxative effects of polyols are reduced and which are effective to reduce the amount of biogenic amines in the gut of a mammal.

Disclosed are methods for producing fusion proteins with the heterodimeric cytokine, interleukin-12. In order to insure that the proper ratio of fused and non-fused subunits are obtained in the fusion protein, a specific stepwise approach to genetic engineering is used. This consists of first expressing the non-fused p40 IL-12 subunit in a production cell line, followed by or simultaneously expressing in the same cell, a second recombinant fusion protein consisting of the fused polypeptide linked by a peptide bond to the p35 subunit of IL-12. Molecules containing the p35 fusion protein cannot be secreted from the transfected mammalian cell without first complexing in a one to one ratio with the p40 subunit, thus ensuring the production of active heterodimeric fusion proteins.

The invention relates to modulation of the immune system. More particularly, the invention relates to modulating the immune system through the use of oligonucleotide-derived compounds. The invention provides immunostimulatory agents that are less expensive to make than existing immunostimulatory oligonucleotides. The immunostimulatory agents according to the invention can, in preferred embodiments, cause immune stimulation across species lines.

Disclosed are methods for producing fusion proteins with the heterodimeric cytokine, interleukin-12. In order to insure that the proper ratio of fused and non-fused subunits are obtained in the fusion protein, a specific stepwise approach to genetic engineering is used. This consists of first expressing the non-fused p40 IL-12 subunit in a production cell line, followed by or simultaneously expressing in the same cell, a second recombinant fusion protein consisting of the fused polypeptide linked by a peptide bond to the p35 subunit of IL-12. Molecules containing the p35 fusion protein cannot be secreted from the transfected mammalian cell without first complexing in a one to one ratio with the p40 subunit, thus ensuring the production of active heterodimeric fusion proteins.

The present invention is directed to a method of preparation and the composition of a water soluble extract of the plant species Uncaria. The present invention is also directed to the pharmaceutical use of the composition for the enhancement of the immune, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and DNA repair processes of warm blooded animals. The present preparation of the water soluble extract of the plant species Uncaria results in the depletion of many of the ingredients which lead to various toxic side effects associated with other extracts or compositions derived from Uncaria. Also, the present preparation leads to the depletion of many of the active ingredients commonly associated with other extracts and compositions of the plant species Uncaria. Therefore, the present invention teaches that the hot water extraction of the crude plant parts of Uncaria and the subsequent dialysis of the solubilized products yields a low molecular weight composition which maintains a high degree of the anti-tumor, inflammatory and immune stimulatory activities associated with the crude plant parts.

The invention provides methods of modulating an immune response to a second antigen which entail administration of a first antigen and an immunostimulatory polynucleotide. Modulation of the immune response is generally manifested as stimulation of a Th1 response.

The composition for stimulating an immune response in a subject comprises methyl vinyl ether and maleic anhydride copolymer-based nanoparticles. Said nanoparticles may further contain an allergen or an antigen and / or an immunostimulating agent, which may be contained inside said nanoparticles and / or at least partially coating the surface of said nanoparticles, and optionally a cross-linking agent. The immune response stimulating composition is useful as an adjuvant in immunotherapy and vaccines.