Proteins for Blocking Neurotransmitter Release
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate
InventorsMatthew Kennedy, Chandra Tucker
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Abstract
The present invention includes light-controlled and light-independent neurotoxin systems and methods for using such neurotoxin systems for rapidly and locally silencing distinct populations of neurons.
Claims30
A light-controlled protein system comprising:
- a first construct comprising a first fragment of the protein, wherein the first fragment is fused to a first photodimerizer molecule;
- a second construct comprising a second fragment of the protein, wherein the second fragment is fused to a second photodimerizer molecule;
- wherein, in the absence of visible light, the first photodimerizer molecule does not bind to the second photodimerizer molecule, forming a non-activated system;
- wherein, in the presence of visible light, the first photodimerizer molecule binds to the second photodimerizer molecule, thus promoting physical contact between the first fragment of the protein and the second fragment of the protein, and forming an activated system;
- wherein the biological activity of the protein in the activated system is higher than in the non-activated system.
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A composition comprising a first BoNT/B light chain fragment comprising amino acid residues 1-146 of SEQ ID NO:4 and a second BoNT/B light chain fragment comprising amino acid residues 147-441 of SEQ ID NO:4, wherein, when the first and second fragments are physically separate, a functional protein is not formed, and wherein, when the first and second fragments are physically adjacent, a functional protein is formed.
A composition comprising a first BoNT/A light chain fragment comprising amino acid residues 1-203 of SEQ ID NO:9 and a second BoNT/A light chain fragment comprising amino acid residues 204-448 of SEQ ID NO:9, wherein, when the first and second fragments are physically separate, a functional protein is not formed, and wherein, when the first and second fragments are physically adjacent, a functional protein is formed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.