Provided herein are modified forms of Conantokin peptides, including, modified Con-P peptides, nucleic acids encoding the same and compositions thereof. Further provided are nucleic acid molecules encoding for chimeric modified conantokin polypeptides to be expressed in or on a membrane of a target cells, compositions comprising the same and uses thereof for treating various neurodegenerative conditions.

The current disclosure provides methods and compositions useful in preparing transformed and immortalized zebra and quagga mussel cells that function as disseminated neoplastic (DN) cells, as well as the cells produced thereby. In particular, these cells are immortalized through modifying expression of the TERT nucleic acid and/or protein. Also provided are methods for using such mussel DNCs in cell culture, in vitro, and within live mussels in the lab or in the wild, to control mussel populations such as invasive zebra mussel or quagga mussel populations.

The present disclosure describes analog conotoxin peptides of the α-conotoxin peptide RgIA. These analog conotoxin peptides block the α9α10 subtype of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) and can be used for treating pain and inflammation including inflammatory pain, cancer related pain, and neuropathic pain. The RgIA analogs described in the present invention include a variety of sequence modifications and chemical modifications that are introduced to improve the drug-like characteristics of RgIA analogs and thereby increase their therapeutic value.

A method for obtaining a collagen peptide from a starfish, an elastic liposome containing a starfish-derived collagen peptide, and a cosmetic composition containing the same are disclosed. Methods of using the collagen peptide or the elastic liposome are disclosed. The collagen peptide obtained from a starfish has excellent skin absorption rate and having anti-oxidation and wrinkle-improving activity. Thus, the collagen peptide may replace existing animal collagen to provide collagen with high extraction efficiency.

Described herein are methods and compositions for genomic editing. Endonucleases for genomic editing involve inducing breaks in double stranded DNA, for which knock-ins are notoriously inefficient for relying on random integration of homologous DNA sequences into the break site by repair proteins. To address these issues, described herein are novel recombinant fusion proteins that actively recruit linear DNA inserts in closer proximity to the genomic cleavage site, increasing integration efficiency of large DNA fragments into the genome. Such improvements to genomic editing technology allow one to use lower linear DNA concentrations without sacrificing efficiency and can be further combined with other features, such as fluorescent protein reporting systems.

The present invention relates to the method and use of fluorescent proteins in making transgenic fluorescent ornamental amphibians. The fluorescent ornamental amphibians are used to establish a population of transgenic ornamental amphibians and to provide to the ornamental amphibian industry. Thus, new varieties of ornamental amphibians of different fluorescence colors from a novel source are developed.

Provided are recombinant Factor VIII proteins, e.g., human Factor VIII proteins with heterologous moieties inserted into flexible permissive loops located in the Factor VIII A domains, while retaining the procoagulant activity of Factor VIII.

Provided herein are methods for selecting a population of cells expressing a target polypeptide. In some aspects, the disclosure provides methods for sorting and selecting populations of transfected host cells based on their early expression of a selectable polypeptide. In certain embodiments, the sorting is performed using fluorescence-activated cell sorting or magnetic-activated cell sorting based on the selectable polypeptide. Such selection methods can be further utilized to generate clonal populations of producer cells, e.g. for large-scale manufacturing of a target polypeptide of interest.

Novel analogues of the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus toxin ShK, and their use as, for example, therapeutic agents for treating autoimmune diseases are disclosed. The analogues comprise a ShK toxin polypeptide and an N-terminal extension comprising an amino acid sequence according to formula (I): wherein X.sup.−4 is D, E or other negatively-charged amino acid or derivative thereof, X.sup.−3 is E, I, L, S, V, W or a tryptophan derivative, X.sup.−2 is any amino acid, X.sup.−1 is any amino acid, a is absent or a first additional moiety, and b is absent or a second additional moiety.

a-X.sup.−4X.sup.−3X.sup.−2X.sup.−1-b (SEQ ID NO: 3)   (I)

There is provided a peptide-containing compound that comprises a peptide component which is an amino acid sequence of from 2 to 45 (e.g. from 6 to 15) amino acids, which peptide component is covalently bonded to one or more compounds of formula I: ##STR00001##
wherein: R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of —C(CH.sub.3).sub.2OH, —COCH.sub.3, —C(CH.sub.3)═CH.sub.2 and —C(CH.sub.3).sub.2H; and n is 0, 1 or 2,
as well as regioisomers, stereoisomers, and pharmaceutically- or cosmetically-acceptable salts of said peptide-containing compound. The compound of formula I is preferably montelukast, montelukast styrene or hydrogenated montelukast styrene. The peptide-containing compound is particularly useful in the treatment of conditions characterised by inflammation, including wounds, hemorrhoids, burns, psoriasis, acne, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel disease (such as ulcerative colitis). Compounds of the invention are also useful in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.