The invention relates to improvements in drug delivery and more particularly to the use of Cell Penetrating Agents (CPA's) or Cell Penetrating Peptides (CPP's) which have been stabilized by, for example: i) stapling two amino acids to form Stapled CPP's (StaP's) or ii) stitching three or more amino acids to form stitched CPP's (StiP's). These stabilized CPP's are conjugated to a drug or Biologically Active Compound (BAC) directly or via a Bi-Functional Linker (BFL) so that the BAC can be carried through a cell membrane by the CPP. The resulting molecules are referred to as Drug Carrying Cell Penetrating Molecules (DCCPM's). The preferred BAC is an electrically low charge carrying oligonucleotide such as a phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligonucleotide (PMO). The invention also relates to a method of facilitating the uptake of a BAC into a cell, the use of a DCCPM in the treatment of a disease requiring alteration of an endogenous or exogenous gene, a method of improving the bioavailability of a drug or BAC, a method of introducing a drug or BAC to a site which is refractory to the drug or BAC in its native state, a method of treating a subject comprising administering the DCCPM's of the invention and to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the DCCPM and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients.

The invention relates to improvements in drug delivery and more particularly to the use of Cell Penetrating Agents (CPA's) or Cell Penetrating Peptides (CPP's) which have been stabilized by, for example: i) stapling two amino acids to form Stapled CPP's (StaP's) or ii) stitching three or more amino acids to form stitched CPP's (StiP's). These stabilized CPP's are conjugated to a drug or Biologically Active Compound (BAC) directly or via a Bi-Functional Linker (BFL) so that the BAC can be carried through a cell membrane by the CPP. The resulting molecules are referred to as Drug Carrying Cell Penetrating Molecules (DCCPM's). The preferred BAC is an electrically low charge carrying oligonucleotide such as a phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligonucleotide (PMO). The invention also relates to a method of facilitating the uptake of a BAC into a cell, the use of a DCCPM in the treatment of a disease requiring alteration of an endogenous or exogenous gene, a method of improving the bioavailability of a drug or BAC, a method of introducing a drug or BAC to a site which is refractory to the drug or BAC in its native state, a method of treating a subject comprising administering the DCCPM's of the invention and to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the DCCPM and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients.

It is an object of the present invention to provide, for instance, a method for evaluating a function, such as transforming potential, of multiple different genes of interest, and a method capable of evaluating drug sensitivity of a subject having each gene of interest. The present invention relates to, for instance, a method for evaluating multiple different genes of interest, comprising the steps of: integrating, into host cell genomic DNA, polynucleotides each comprising a tag sequence and a gene of interest or a fragment thereof linked to the tag sequence; mixing a plurality of different host cells having the different polynucleotides integrated therein; culturing the mixed host cells; extracting the genomic DNA from the cultured host cells; quantifying each of the polynucleotides in the extracted genomic DNA based on the tag sequence; and determining a relative cell count of each of the host cells having the respective polynucleotides after the culturing, based on the quantified values for the polynucleotides.

Human interleukin-2 (IL-2) muteins or variants thereof are provided. In particular, provided are IL-2 muteins that have an increased binding capacity for IL-2Rβ receptor as compared to wild-type IL-2 for use in combination therapies with anti-PD-1 antibodies for the treatment of cancer. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions that include such anti-PD-1 antibodies and the disclosed IL-2 muteins.

Human interleukin-2 (IL-2) muteins or variants thereof are provided. In particular, provided are IL-2 muteins that have an increased binding capacity for IL-2Rβ receptor as compared to wild-type IL-2 for use in combination therapies with anti-PD-1 antibodies for the treatment of cancer. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions that include such anti-PD-1 antibodies and the disclosed IL-2 muteins.

Disclosed herein include methods, compositions, and kits suitable for use in detecting the activation level of a signal transducer. In some embodiments, there are provided synthetic protein circuits wherein recruitment of synthetic protein circuit components to an association location upon activation of a signal transducer generates an active effector protein. The effector protein can be configured to carry out a variety of functions when in an active state, such as, for example, inducing cell death. Methods of treating a disease or disorder characterized by aberrant signaling are provided in some embodiments.

A method of treating a synucleinopathy with a peptide (C)DQPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 59), (C)DMPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 60), (C)DSPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 61), (C)DQPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 64), (C)DMPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 65), (C)DSPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 66), (C)HDRPVTPD (SEQ ID NO: 70), (C)DRPVTPD (SEQ ID NO: 71), (C)DVPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 72), (C)DTPVYPD (SEQ ID NO: 73), (C)DTPVIPD (SEQ ID NO: 74), (C)HDRPVTPDN (SEQ ID NO: 75), (C)DRPVTPDN (SEQ ID NO: 76), (C)DVPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 78), (C)DTPVYPDN (SEQ ID NO: 79), (C)DQPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 81), (C)DMPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 82), (C)DSPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 83), (C)DHPVHPDS (SEQ ID NO: 86), (C)DMPVSPDR (SEQ ID NO: 87), (C)DRPVYPDI (SEQ ID NO: 90), (C)DHPVTPDR (SEQ ID NO: 91), (C)DTPVLPDS (SEQ ID NO: 93), (C)DMPVTPDT (SEQ ID NO: 94), (C)DAPVTPDT (SEQ ID NO: 95), (C)DSPVVPDN (SEQ ID NO: 96), (C)DLPVTPDR (SEQ ID NO: 97), (C)DSPVHPDT (SEQ ID NO: 98), (C)DAPVRPDS (SEQ ID NO: 99), (C)DMPVWPDG (SEQ ID NO: 100), (C)DRPVQPDR (SEQ ID NO: 102), (C)YDRPVQPDR (SEQ ID NO: 103), (C)DMPVDADN (SEQ ID NO: 105), DQPVLPD(C) (SEQ ID NO: 106), and DMPVLPD(C) (SEQ ID NO: 107.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing: a fusion protein or conjugated protein having excellent cell membrane permeability, containing a partial peptide derived from human, and suitable for intracellular delivery; an intracellular delivery carrier comprising such a fusion protein or conjugated protein; a partial peptide; a cell membrane permeation enhancer comprising the partial peptide; DNA; and a vector. The fusion protein or conjugated protein has a partial peptide comprising at least seven consecutive amino acid residues of an amino acid sequence encoded by a predetermined DNA, and a ligand directly or indirectly bound to the partial peptide and having the capability of binding to cell surfaces. The ligand is preferably an antibody. The intracellular delivery carrier comprises the fusion protein or conjugated protein. The cell membrane permeation enhancer comprises the partial peptide.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing: a fusion protein or conjugated protein having excellent cell membrane permeability, containing a partial peptide derived from human, and suitable for intracellular delivery; an intracellular delivery carrier comprising such a fusion protein or conjugated protein; a partial peptide; a cell membrane permeation enhancer comprising the partial peptide; DNA; and a vector. The fusion protein or conjugated protein has a partial peptide comprising at least seven consecutive amino acid residues of an amino acid sequence encoded by a predetermined DNA, and a ligand directly or indirectly bound to the partial peptide and having the capability of binding to cell surfaces. The ligand is preferably an antibody. The intracellular delivery carrier comprises the fusion protein or conjugated protein. The cell membrane permeation enhancer comprises the partial peptide.

The present invention relates to combinations, pharmaceutical compositions and fusion molecules comprising an FGF21 (fibroblast growth factor 21) compound and a GLP-1R (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor) agonist with optimized GLP-1R agonist/FGF21 compound activity ratio. It further relates to their use as medicaments, in particular for the treatment of obesity, being overweight, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, diabetic retinopathy, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH) and/or atherosclerosis.