118 results about "Immunotoxin" patented technology

CD30 is a receptor expressed on cells of Hodgkin's disease and certain leukemias. The extracellular portion of CD30 is cleaved, releasing a form known as sCD30. The invention relates in part to the discovery that a residual, extracellular “stalk” of CD30 remains after cleavage of sCD30. The stalk provides an advantageous and previously unrecognized target for immunotoxins. The invention provides antibodies that bind to the CD30 stalk or to epitopes destroyed upon the cleavage of CD30 which results in the stalk. The invention further provides new anti-CD30 antibodies that form effective immunotoxins and are particularly suitable for making disulfide stabilized Fv (“dsFv”)-immunoconjugates. The dsFv immunoconjugates can be used as reagents to label CD30-expressing cancer cells or to inhibit the growth of CD30-expressing cancer cells. Moreover, the invention provides anti-CD30 antibodies that activate complement-dependent cytotoxicity.

This invention demonstrates the utility of a yeast expression system for the expression of functional heterologous multi-domain proteins in yeast. The yeast expression system allows for the inclusion of a plurality of (up to three) modular expression cassettes which may encode multiple polypeptide chains of a heterologous multi-domain protein on a single plasmid (Twin Cassette). Because multiple polypeptide chains may be encoded for by the expression cassettes of the present invention in a single vector, the system can produce equivalent amounts of the multiple polypeptide chains, thereby enhancing the yield of a functional heterologous multi-domain protein. For example, functional monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) comprising a heavy chain and a light chain of an immunoglobulin (IgG), and functional immunotoxins comprising an antibody domain and an oxidase toxin may be produced using the Yeast expression system of the present invention. In addition, functional single chain antibodies, antibody fragments and chimeric antibodies may also be produced.

Novel immunotoxins and methods of treating neoplastic diseases are provided. More specifically, immunotoxins comprised conjugation of a c-erbB-2 targeting moiety and a cell growth modulator are provided. These immunotoxins specifically and selectively kill tumor cells that over-express the c-erbB-2 protein. The novel immunotoxins would be useful in treating human mammary carcinomas, human ovarian carcinomas, lung carcinomas, gastric tumors, salivary gland adenocarcinomas, and colon adenocarcinomas.

Methods for predicting patient tolerability to therapeutic agents, such as cytokines, lymphokines and immunotoxins, are disclosed. The methods utilize an in vitro model of vascular leak syndrome (VLS) to assess the effect of the agent in question on the permeability of large proteins across confluent monolayers of endothelial cells (EC).

The present invention concerns methods of reducing the antigenicity of a proteinaceous compound while maintaining the compounds biological activity, as well as proteinaceous compositions with biological activity but reduced antigenicity. These methods and compositions have significant benefits to a subject in need of such compounds and compositions. Also included are modified toxin compounds that are truncated and / or possess reduce antigenicity. Such designer toxins have therapeutic, diagnostic, and preventative benefits, particularly as immunotoxins. Methods of treating cancer using these immunotoxins are provided.

The invention provides a method of treating diabetes in a subject, comprising administering to the diabetic subject an immunotoxin, thereby reducing the subject's T-cell population, and administering to the subject pancreatic islet cells from a donor. The immune tolerance inducing treatment regimen, used optionally with adjunct immunosuppressive agents, prevents pancreatic islet cell rejection while maintaining long term islet cell function following xenogeneic and allogeneic pancreatic islet cell transplantation. Thus, the methods of the present invention provide a means for treating diabetes, wherein the need for exogenous insulin or immunosuppressive agents is decreased or eliminated. Also provided is a method of inhibiting a rejection response of a transplant recipient, comprising administering an immunotoxin during the peritransplant period, thereby transiently reducing the number of T-cell lymphocytes and promoting long-term survival of the transplant.