Description of Invention:
This technology pertains to the use of a soluble transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) antagonist (SR2F) for the suppression of metastasis. The SR2F antagonist is composed of the soluble extracellular domain of the type II TGF-beta receptor fused to the Fc domain of human IgG. In accordance with the invention, it has been discovered that overexpression of the SR2F antagonist in transgenic mice significantly protects against experimentally induced metastasis without inducing the negative effects associated with loss of TGF-beta function in the TGF-beta knock out mice. Lifetime exposure to the antagonist did not result in any increase in spontaneous or induced tumorigenesis, and there was no evidence for significant manifestations of autoimmune disease or increase in inflammatory lesions. The inventors speculate that this apparent ability of SR2F to discriminate between "physiological" and "pathological" TGF-beta relates to the relative accessibility of the two forms of TGF-beta, with only pathological TGF-beta being accessible to the antagonist.
Inventors:
Drs. Lalage Wakefield and Yu-an Yang (NCI)
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-059-2001/0 --
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/300,087 filed 21 Jun 2001
DHHS Reference No. E-059-2001/1 --
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/176,266 filed 20 Jun 2002
U.S. Patent Application No. 11/760,638 filed 08 Jun 2007
Portfolios: Cancer
Cancer -Therapeutics-Biological Response Modifiers Cancer -Therapeutics
For Additional Information Please Contact: Surekha Vathyam Ph.D.
Office of Technology Transfer
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Phone: 301/435-4076
Email: vathyams@mail.nih.gov
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