35983 results about "Toxicity" patented technology

The present invention relates to the field glycosylation engineering of proteins. More particular, the present invention is directed to the glycosylation engineering of proteins to provide proteins with improved therapeutic properties, e.g., antibodies, antibody fragments, or a fusion protein that includes a region equivalent to the Fc region of an immunoglobulin, with enhanced Fc-mediated cellular cytotoxicity.

The present invention relates to the discovery, identification and characterization of toxic agents which are lethal to pathogens and methods for targeting such toxic agents to a pathogen or pathogen infected cells in order to treat and/or eradicate the infection. In particular, the present invention relates to toxic agents which target bacteria at different stages of the bacterial life cycle, which are delivered alone or in combination to bacteria or bacteria-infected cells. The invention relates to toxic agents which are lethal to diseased cells and methods for targeting such toxic agents to a diseased cell in order to treat and/or eradicate the disease. The present invention relates to promoter elements which are pathogen-specific or tissue-specific and the use of such promoter elements to achieve pathogen-specific or tissue-specific expression of the toxic agent(s) and/or ribozyme(s) of the present invention. Specifically, the invention relates to the delivery of one or more toxic gene products, antisense RNAs, or ribozymes, or combination thereof. The invention provides a novel system by which multiple pathogenic targets may be simultaneously targeted to cause the death of a pathogen, or cell infected with a pathogen. Further, the invention has important implications in the eradication of drug-resistant bacterium and bacterial pathogens. The invention provides a novel system by which multiple targets may be simultaneously targeted to cause the death of a diseased cell. The invention also has important implications in the eradication of drug-resistant pathogens and drug-resistant diseased cells (such as cancer cells).

The invention provides transgenic plants and transformed host cells which express modified cry 3B genes with enhanced toxicity to Coleopteran insects. Also disclosed are methods of making and using these transgenic plants, methods of making recombinant host cells expressing these delta -endotoxins, and methods of killing insects such as Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), southern corn rootworm (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber) and western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte.

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.

The present invention relates to a non-immunostimulatory antibody which lacks antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, Fc gamma receptor binding and complement-mediated cytotoxicity. In some embodiments, the antibody contains a modified immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) Fc region with at least one substitution in the B/C loop, FcRn binding domain, and the F/G loop. The antibody of the invention is useful in the preparation of therapeutic antibodies and pharmaceutical compositions and kits containing the same.

Antibodies, humanized antibodies, resurfaced antibodies, antibody fragments, derivatized antibodies, and conjugates of same with cytotoxic agents, which specifically bind to CD38, are capable of killing CD38⁺ cells by apoptosis, antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), and/or complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). Said antibodies and fragments thereof may be used in the treatment of tumors that express CD38 protein, such as multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, or acute lymphocytic leukemia, or the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, erythematosus, and asthma. Said derivatized antibodies may be used in the diagnosis and imaging of tumors that express elevated levels of CD38. Also provided are cytotoxic conjugates comprising a cell binding agent and a cytotoxic agent, therapeutic compositions comprising the conjugate, methods for using the conjugates in the inhibition of cell growth and the treatment of disease, and a kit comprising the cytotoxic conjugate. In particular, the cell binding agent is a monoclonal antibody, and epitope-binding fragments thereof, that recognizes and binds the CD38 protein.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for the delivery of therapeutic agents to cells. In particular, these include novel cationic lipids and nucleic acid-lipid particles that provide efficient encapsulation of nucleic acids and efficient delivery of the encapsulated nucleic acid to cells in vivo. The compositions of the present invention are highly potent, thereby allowing effective knock-down of a specific target protein at relatively low doses. In addition, the compositions and methods of the present invention are less toxic and provide a greater therapeutic index compared to compositions and methods previously known in the art.

The invention describes a process for determining a biological state through the discovery and analysis of hidden or non-obvious, discriminatory biological data patterns. The biological data can be from health data, clinical data, or from a biological sample, (e.g., a biological sample from a human, e.g., serum, blood, saliva, plasma, nipple aspirants, synovial fluids, cerebrospinal fluids, sweat, urine, fecal matter, tears, bronchial lavage, swabbings, needle aspirantas, semen, vaginal fluids, pre-ejaculate.), etc. which is analyzed to determine the biological state of the donor. The biological state can be a pathologic diagnosis, toxicity state, efficacy of a drug, prognosis of a disease, etc. Specifically, the invention concerns processes that discover hidden discriminatory biological data patterns (e.g., patterns of protein expression in a serum sample that classify the biological state of an organ) that describe biological states.

Antibodies, humanized antibodies, resurfaced antibodies, antibody fragments, derivatized antibodies, and conjugates of same with cytotoxic agents, which specifically bind to, and inhibit A class of Eph receptors, antagonize the effects of growth factors on the growth and survival of tumor cells, and which have minimal agonistic activity or are preferentially devoid of agonist activity. Said antibodies and fragments thereof may be used in the treatment of tumors that express elevated levels of A class of Eph receptors, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, ovarian carcinoma, synovial sarcoma and pancreatic cancer, and said derivatized antibodies may be used in the diagnosis and imaging of tumors that express elevated levels of A class of Eph receptors. Also provided are cytotoxic conjugates comprising a cell binding agent and a cytotoxic agent, therapeutic compositions comprising the conjugate, methods for using the conjugates in the inhibition of cell growth and the treatment of disease, and a kit comprising the cytotoxic conjugate are disclosed are all embodiments of the invention. In particular, the cell binding agent is a monoclonal antibody, and epitope-binding fragments thereof, that recognizes and binds the A class of Eph receptors.

The invention provides methods and compositions for modulating the sensitivity of cells to cytotoxic compounds and other active agents. In accordance with the invention, compositions are provided comprising combinations of ectophosphatase inhibitors and active agents. Active agents include antibiotics, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, chemotherapeutic agents, and plant growth regulators. By increasing the efficacy of active agents, the invention allows use of compositions with lowered concentrations of active ingredients.

Disclosed are novel insecticidal polypeptides, and compositions comprising these polypeptides, peptide fragments thereof, and antibodies specific therefor. Also disclosed are vectors, transformed host cells, and transgenic plants that contain nucleic acid segments that encode the disclosed delta-endotoxin polypeptides. Also disclosed are methods of identifying related polypeptides and polynucleotides, methods of making and using transgenic cells comprising these polynucleotide sequences, as well as methods for controlling an insect population, such as Colorado potato beetle, southern corn rootworm and western corn rootworm, and for conferring to a plant resistance to a target insect species.

A method of mRNA production for use in transfection is provided, that involves in vitro transcription of PCR generated templates with specially designed primers, followed by polyA addition, to produce a construct containing 3′ and 5′ untranslated sequence (“UTR”), a 5′ cap and/or Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES), the gene to be expressed, and a polyA tail, typically 50-2000 bases in length. This RNA can efficiently transfect different kinds of cells. This approach results in increased efficiency (fidelity and productivity) of mRNA synthesis and is less time consuming because it does not require cloning, and also consequently eliminates the unwanted errors and effects related to RNA made on DNA templates obtained with cloning techniques. The results of transfection of RNAs demonstrate that RNA transfection can be very effective in cells that are exceedingly difficult to transfect efficiently with DNA constructs. Further, the levels of gene expression following mRNA transfection are consistent from cell to cell in an experiment and these levels can be controlled over a wide range simply by changing the amount of mRNA that is transfected, and without obvious cytotoxic effects due to the levels of RNA per se. Due to high efficiency the cells can be simultaneously transfected with multiple genetic constructs. The method can be used to deliver genes into cells not- or only poorly transfectable for DNA, in vitro and in vivo.

The invention discloses an insecticide for agricultural pests. The insecticide contains 3-chloro-N<1>-(2-methyl-4-heptafluoroisopropyl phenyl)-N<2>-(1-methyl-1-cyanoethyl)phthalic diamide shown as a structural formula (I). The insecticide has ultrahigh insecticidal activity, high safety, reasonable toxicity, ecological toxicity and environmental compatibility, and belongs to a low-toxicity and environment-friendly pesticide.

Disclosed are nucleic acid segments comprising synthetically-modified genes encoding Coleopteran-toxic B. thuringiensis delta -endotoxins. Also disclosed are methods of using these genes for the recombinant expression of polypeptides, the preparation of vectors containing the genes, and methods for transforming suitable host cells.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for the delivery of therapeutic agents to cells. In particular, these include novel cationic lipids and nucleic acid-lipid particles that provide efficient encapsulation of nucleic acids and efficient delivery of the encapsulated nucleic acid to cells in vivo. The compositions of the present invention are highly potent, thereby allowing effective knock-down of a specific target protein at relatively low doses. In addition, the compositions and methods of the present invention are less toxic and provide a greater therapeutic index compared to compositions and methods previously known in the art.