Obligate domain-swapped dimer of cyanovirin with enhanced anti-viral activity

Abstract

A purified or isolated obligate domain-swapped dimer of CVN; an isolated or purified nucleic acid encoding at least one obligate domain-swapped dimer of CVN, optionally in the form of a vector; a host cell comprising such an isolated or purified nucleic acid; a composition comprising (i) the obligate domain-swapped dimer of CVN or the isolated or purified nucleic acid encoding at least one obligate domain-swapped dimer of CVN, optionally in the form of a vector, and (ii) a carrier therefor; a method of inhibiting a viral infection of a mammal, which method comprises administering to the mammal an antiviral effective amount of the aforementioned composition, whereupon the viral infection of the mammal is inhibited; and a method of making an obligate domain-swapped dimer of CVN, which method comprises introducing at least one mutation in the linker region of wild-type CVN, whereupon an obligate domain-swapped dimer of CVN is obtained.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.