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OwnerTodd Holmes, Shuguang Zhang +3inventors
InventorsTodd Holmes, Shuguang Zhang, Alexander Rich, C. DiPersio, Curtis Lockshin
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Described herein is the self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides, i.e., peptides with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues, into macroscopic membranes. The membrane-forming peptides are greater than 12 amino acids in length, and preferably at least 16 amino acids, are complementary and are structurally compatible. Specifically, two peptides, (AEAEAKAK)2 (ARARADAD)2, were shown to self-assemble into macroscopic membranes. Conditions under which the peptides self-assemble into macroscopic membranes and methods for producing the membranes are also described. The macroscopic membranes have several interesting properties: they are stable in aqueous solution, serum, and ethanol, are highly resistant to heat, alkaline and acidic pH, chemical denaturants, and proteolytic digestion, and are non-cytotoxic. The membranes are potentially useful in biomaterial applications such as slow-diffusion drug delivery systems, artificial skin, and separation matrices, and as experimental models for Alzheimer's disease and scrapie infection. The sequence of the peptide, EAK16, was derived from a putative Z-DNA binding protein from yeast, called zuotin. The cloning and characterization of the ZUO1 gene are also described.
A method for in vitro cell culture comprising:
A method for forming a macroscopic membrane comprising combining peptides, which are greater than 12 amino acids in length have alternating nonpolar and hydrophilic amino acids, and are complementary and structurally compatible, with monovalent metal cations in an aqueous solution under conditions suitable for self-assembly of the peptide into the macroscopic membrane.
A method for slow-diffusion delivery of a drug comprising administering the drug in a vehicle comprising a macroscopic membrane formed by self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides.
A method for identifying a drug which inhibits the self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides into a macroscopic membrane comprising:
Substantially pure DNA having all or a portion of the nucleotide sequence of FIG. 12C (SEQ ID NO:
Substantially pure DNA which encodes a protein having all or a biologically active portion of the amino acid sequence of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:
Isolated protein having all or a biologically active portion of the amino acid sequence of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:
A reagent which converts B-DNA to Z-DNA comprising a peptide selected from the group consisting of:
A reagent which converts B-DNA to Z-DNA comprising the peptide KAKAX (SEQ ID NO:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.