Cell death protein

US5674734A · kind A · utility

Assignees

• President and Fellows of Harvard College · US
• The General Hospital Corporation · US

Inventors

• Philip Leder · Brookline, US
• Brian Seed · Boston, US
• Ben Z. Stanger · Brookline, US
• Tae Ho Lee · Seoul, KR
• Emily Kim · Sharon, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 18, 1995
• Grant date: Oct 7, 1997
• Expiry date: May 18, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61K38/00
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Disclosed is a protein, designated RIP, which contains a death domain at its carboxy terminus and a kinase domain at its amino terminus. RIP interacts with the Fas/APO-1 intracellular domain and the TNFR1 intracellular domain. When expressed in transformed host cells, recombinant RIP promotes apoptosis. Also disclosed are DNA molecules encoding RIP, anti-RIP antibodies, and screening methods for discovering inhibitors of RIP-dependent apoptosis.