The Need

Immunomodulation agents help cancer and autoimmune patients suppress or stimulate extracellular domains. This is done by the administration of modular fragments in drug suitable form, giving clinicians complementary cancer therapies and immunosuppressant options. Notch, a transmembrane receptor, regulates the function of a wide variety cell types, including cells of the immune system. Notch signaling induces the expression of lineage defining transcription factors for subsets of helper T cells and enhances the activation of both CD4 and CD8 T cells. The most studied Notch ligand is delta-like ligand 1 (DLL1), is important for the differentiation and activation of T cells, as demonstrated by gain-of-function studies. Genetic deletion of DLL1 in mice results in impaired immune responses and accelerated tumor growth. Notch ligand expression is also decreased in cancer patients and in tumor-bearing mice.

The Technology

Delta-like ligand (DLL1) is an extracellular domain that can be activated by a series of fragments that attach. Upon attachment either suppression or stimulation of the immune system can be induced for therapeutic purposes. Activation of DLL1 was known to repress tumor growth in a lab environment. Development of a series Notch-1 and Notch-2 binding fragments that activate the DLL1 domain can be utilized as drugs to stimulate tumor growth suppression and fragments that prevent attachment could be utilized to suppress immune disease processes. Currently the lab research conducted by the team of inventors provides indicators of being successfully capable of making fragments effective that effectively stimulate and suppress the notch signaling pathway for DLL1.

Commercial Applications

• Medical Treatment
• Cancer Treatment
• Autoimmune Disease Treatment

Benefits/Advantages

• Activation of DLL1 is known to repress tumor growth.
• A new method to effectively activate DLL1 to suppress cancer and other autoimmune diseases
• This technology can be applied to a variety of disseases