Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Peptide containing doai
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-22
2001-03-13
Moezie, F. T. (Department: 1653)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Peptide containing doai
C514S021800, C530S324000, C530S399000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200953
ABSTRACT:
A portion of the work set forth herein was supported by grants NIHGMS-48829 and NSF MCB-9406656 and by the Medical University of South Carolina.
1. INTRODUCTION
The present invention relates to relaxin analogs, and uses thereof. The present invention further relates to compositions and formulations comprising relaxin analogs and their uses. The present invention also relates to compositions and formulations comprising the relaxin analogs, its derivatives and/or relaxin or other agent wherein such composition exhibits an additive or synergistic effect.
2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A family of hormones, comprising insulin, insulin-like growth factors (I and II), bombyxin, molluscan insulin-related peptide and relaxin, has been identified and designated as “insulin-related.” Blundell and Humbel, 1980,
Nature
287:781-787; Bullesbach and Schwabe, 1991,
J. Biol. Chem.
266:10754-10761. The proteins comprising this family of hormones represents a group of polypeptides having homologous primary and secondary structure but divergent biological functions.
Relaxin has been purified from a variety of species including porcine, murine, equine, shark, tiger, rat, dogfish and human. In the human, relaxin is most abundantly found in the corpus lutea (CL) of pregnancy. Mature human relaxin is a hormonal peptide of approximately 6000 daltons which facilitates the birth process by remodelling the reproductive tract before parturition. More specifically, relaxin appears to modulate the restructuring of connective tissues in target organs to obtain the required changes in organ structure during pregnancy and parturition. See, Hisaw, 1926,
Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med.
23:661-663; Schwabe, et al., 1977,
Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm.
75:503-570; James, et al., 1977,
Nature,
267:544-546. A concise review of relaxin was provided by Sherwood, D. in
The Physiologvy of Reproduction,
Chapter 16, “Relaxin”, Knobil, E. and Neill, J., et al. (eds.), (Raven Press Ltd., New York), pp. 585-673 (1988).
While predominantly a hormone of pregnancy, relaxin has also been detected in the non-pregnant female as well as in the male. Bryant-Greenwood, 1982,
Endocrine Reviews
3:62-90; Weiss, 1984,
Ann. Rev. Physiol.
46:43-52.
Two human gene forms encoding for human relaxin have been identified, (H1) and (H2). Hudson, et al., 1983,
Nature
301 628-631; Hudson, et al., 1984,
EMBO J.,
3:2333-2339; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,758,516 and 4,871,670. Only one of the gene forms (H2) has been found to be transcribed in CL. When synthetic human relaxin (H2) and certain human relaxin analogs were tested for biological activity, the tests revealed a relaxin core necessary for biological activity as well as certain amino acid substitutions for methionine that did not affect biological activity. Johnston, et al., in
Peptides: Structure and Function, Proc. Ninth American Peptide Symposium,
Deber, C. M., et al. (eds.) (Pierce Chem. Co. 1985). As set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,191, the binding activity of native relaxin has been calculated to have a K
D
of about 1.3 nM (measure in uterus) or 1.37 (measured in normal heart).
Methods of making relaxin are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,251 and in co-pending U.S. Ser. Nos. 07/908,766 (PCT US90/02085) and 08/080,354 (PCT US94/0699). Methods of using relaxin in cardiovascular therapy and in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,191 and in U.S. Ser. No. 07/902,637 (PCT US92/06927) . Certain formulations of human relaxin are described in allowed U.S. Ser. No. 08/050,745.
In view of the diverse applications for relaxin currently being explored, identification of relaxin analogs retaining or having higher biological activity has been the focus of investigation. Until the present invention, however, a substantially biologically active analog of relaxin had not been identified.
3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to synthesized or recombinant compositions derived from the deduced amino acid and nucleic acid sequences of naturally-occurring human relaxin and derivatives thereof. In one embodiment of the present invention, the composition comprises the full-length amino acid sequence of the relaxin wherein Glu has been substituted by Asp at the B14 position. In another embodiment of the present invention, the composition comprises one or more relaxin B14 analog protein derivatives, wherein the protein is shortened at either or both its 3′ and 5′ ends of either or both the A and B chains. In yet further embodiments of the present invention, the composition is radiolabelled and comprises a full-length relaxin analog or a derivative thereof.
The present invention is further directed to the use of such compounds for the treatment of diseases and disorders which may be otherwise treated with relaxin, either alone, or in combination with relaxin or another agent, and formulations thereof. In one embodiment of the present invention, the diseases or disorders are related to the abnormal expression of collagen and/or fibronectin. More specifically, such diseases or disorders include scleroderma. In another embodiment of the present invention, the diseases and/or disorders are more generally related to the activation of one or more biological functions as a result of binding with the relaxin receptor. Such diseases and/or disorders can include cardiovascular disease, sinus bradycardia, neurodegenerative or neurologic disease, depression and hair loss.
The present invention is also related to the use of relaxin analogs, whether labelled or unlabelled, as a tracer which could then be used to separate by HPLC the different relaxin analog derivatives to yield a carrier-free tracer, in binding assays, and for relaxin receptor mapping.
4. DEFINITIONS
As used in the present specification, the following words and phrases are generally intended to have the meanings as set forth below, except to the extent that the context in which they are used indicates otherwise.
The term “relaxin” means human relaxin, including full length relaxin or a portion of the relaxin molecule that retains biological activity [as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,321, preferably recombinant human relaxin (H2)] and other active agents with relaxin-like activity, such as agents that competitively displace bound relaxin from a receptor. Relaxin can be made by any method known to those skilled in the art, preferably as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,251 and in co-pending U.S. Ser. Nos. 07/908,766 (PCT US90/02085) and 08/080,354 (PCT US94/0699).
The term “relaxin analog,” unless stated otherwise, refers to the Asp(B14) analog and derivatives thereof, including full length Asp(B14) relaxin or a portion of the Asp(B14) relaxin molecule that retains biological activity [as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,321, preferably recombinant human relaxin (H2)] and other active agents with relaxin-like activity, such as agents that competitively displace bound relaxin from a receptor.
5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
5.1. Structure and Activity of Relaxin Analogs
The full-length B-chain of relaxin analog Asp(B14) wherein glutamic acid at position 14 of the B-chain has been replaced by an aspartic acid has the amino acid sequence set forth below as SEQ. ID 1.
SEQ. ID 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
H - Asp - Ser - Trp - Met - Glu - Glu - Val - Ile - Lys - Leu -
11 12 13
14
15 l6 17 18 19 20
Cls - Gly - Arg -
Asp
- Leu - Val - Arg - Ala - Gln - Ile -
21 22&emsp
Schwabe Christian
Unemori Elaine
Bozicevic Karl
Bozicevic Field & Francis LLP
Connetics Corporation
Moezie F. T.
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