Patent · US Expired

Tissue-specific and pathogen-specific toxic agents and ribozymes

US6271359A · kind A · utility

269Cited by
7References
8Claims
0Family size

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Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 14, 1999
Grant dateAug 7, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 14, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
  • CPC primaryC12N2799/021
  • WIPO fieldPharmaceuticals
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

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 p…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.