Yeast-based delivery vehicles
AssigneeUniversity Technology Corporation
InventorsRichard C. Duke, Alex Franzusoff, Donald Bellgrau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention includes yeast vehicles and their use as delivery vehicles. Yeast vehicles include a yeast portion and a heterologous compound. Such yeast vehicles can be used to protect animals from disease and to otherwise carry compounds to given cell types. Examples of yeast vehicles include gene delivery vehicles, drug delivery vehicles, and immunomodulatory vehicles. Immunomodulatory vehicles are capable of modulating an immune response. When stimulating an immune response, such yeast vehicles effect cell-mediated as well as humoral immunity.
Claims12
A method to elicit an antigen-specific humoral immune response and an antigen-specific cell-mediated immune response in a mammal, said method comprising administering to said mammal a yeast selected from the group consisting of a yeast microorganism and a yeast spheroplast, said yeast being transformed with a heterologous nucleic acid molecule encoding an antigen, wherein said antigen has been expressed by said yeast;
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- wherein said antigen which has been expressed by said yeast elicits an antigen-specific humoral immune response and an antigen-specific cell-mediated immune response in said mammal.
A pharmaceutical composition comprising:
- (a) a yeast selected from the group consisting of a yeast microorganism and a yeast spheroplast, said yeast being transformed with a heterologous nucleic acid molecule encoding an antigen operatively linked to a transcription control sequence, wherein said yeast has expressed said antigen;
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- (b) a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient;
- wherein said antigen which has been expressed by said yeast elicits an antigen-specific humoral immune response and an antigen-specific cell-mediated immune response when administered to a mammal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.