Nek2 inhibitors

A composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a Nek2 inhibitor in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

A method of inhibiting the expression of Nek2 in a mammalian cell, comprising administering to said cell an Nek2 inhibitor selected from the group consisting of an antisense oligonucleotide, a ribozyme, a protein, a polypeptide, an antibody, and a small molecule.

A method of inhibiting the expression of Nek2 gene expression in a subject, comprising administering to said subject, in a pharmaceutically effective vehicle, an amount of an antisense oligonucleotide which is effective to specifically hybridize to all or part of a selected target nucleic acid sequence derived from said Nek2 gene.

A method of treating neoplastic disease, comprising administering to a mammalian cell an Nek2 inhibitor selected from group consisting of an antisense oligonucleotide, a ribozyme, a protein, a polypeptide, an antibody, and a small molecule such that the neoplastic disease is reduced in severity.

An antisense oligonucleotide 8 to 35 nucleotides in length targeted to a nucleic acid molecule encoding human Nek2, wherein said antisense compound inhibits the expression of human Nek2.

An isolated oligonucleotide comprising a transcriptional initiation region and a sequence encoding an antisense oligonucleotide at least 8 nucleotides or nucleotide analogues and not longer than 35 nucleotides in length comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:3-12.

A recombinant vector comprising a polynucleotide, wherein said polynucleotide comprises a transcriptional initiation region and a sequence encoding an antisense oligonucleotide at least 8 nucleotides or nucleotide analogues and not longer than 35 nucleotides in length, wherein said antisence oligonucleotide comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:3-12.

A polynucleotide probe for identifying Nek2 polynucleotides by in situ hybridization, wherein said probe comprises an oligonucleotide of selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:3-12, wherein said probe is detectably labeled.

A method to inhibit expression of a Nek2 target gene in a cell in vitro comprising introduction of a ribonucleic acid (RNA) into the cell in an amount sufficient to inhibit expression of the Nek2 target gene, wherein the RNA is a double-stranded molecule with a first strand consisting essentially of a ribonucleotide sequence which corresponds to a nucleotide sequence of the Nek2 target gene and a second strand consisting essentially of a ribonucleotide sequence which is complementary to the nucleotide sequence of the Nek2 target gene, wherein the first and the second ribonucleotide strands are separate complementary strands that hybridize to each other to form said double-stranded molecule, and the double-stranded molecule inhibits expression of the target gene.