The present invention is generally directed to chemically synthesized peptides that are charged with zinc ions (herein “zinc-charged peptides”). The chemically synthesized peptides are based on the amino acid sequence of alpha-lactalbumin. The present invention is further directed to a method of preparing these two zinc-charged peptides by charging the chemically synthesized peptides with zinc ions. It is observed that charging these peptides with zinc ions activate the peptide's ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cell lines, as well as increase ATP, reduce Tau protein and inhibit P38 in the brain. The zinc-charged peptides are thus capable of treating cancer and diseases involving tauopathy such as Alzheimer's Disease. The present invention is thus further directed to a method of treating cancer and diseases involving tauopathy such as Alzheimer's Disease using the zinc-charged peptides.

The present invention is generally directed to chemically synthesized peptides that are charged with zinc ions (herein “zinc-charged peptides”). The chemically synthesized peptides are based on the amino acid sequence of alpha-lactalbumin. The present invention is further directed to a method of preparing these two zinc-charged peptides by charging the chemically synthesized peptides with zinc ions. It is observed that charging these peptides with zinc ions activate the peptide's ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cell lines, as well as increase ATP, reduce Tau protein and inhibit P38 in the brain. The zinc-charged peptides are thus capable of treating cancer and diseases involving tauopathy such as Alzheimer's Disease. The present invention is thus further directed to a method of treating cancer and diseases involving tauopathy such as Alzheimer's Disease using the zinc-charged peptides.

The present invention is directed to synthetic anti-inflammatory peptides and use thereof in the treatment and prevention of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions. Specifically, the invention relates in some embodiments to short isolated peptides having the amino acid sequence Phe-Lys-Glu (FKE), Tyr-Lys-Glu (YKE) or comprising a plurality of these sequences that may be flanked by Ala/Gly (A/G) linkers. The invention further relates in some embodiments to methods for inhibiting scar formation and for treating and alleviating IL-10 dependent conditions.

The present invention is directed to synthetic anti-inflammatory peptides and use thereof in the treatment and prevention of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions. Specifically, the invention relates in some embodiments to short isolated peptides having the amino acid sequence Phe-Lys-Glu (FKE), Tyr-Lys-Glu (YKE) or comprising a plurality of these sequences that may be flanked by Ala/Gly (A/G) linkers. The invention further relates in some embodiments to methods for inhibiting scar formation and for treating and alleviating IL-10 dependent conditions.

Peptides derived from melanoma-associated antigen C2 (MAGEC2), complexes comprising such peptides bound to recombinant MHC molecules, and cells presenting said peptide in complex with MHC molecules are described. Also provided by the present invention are binding moieties that bind to the peptides and/or complexes of the invention. Such moieties are useful for the development of immunotherapeutic reagents for the treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Peptides derived from melanoma-associated antigen C2 (MAGEC2), complexes comprising such peptides bound to recombinant MHC molecules, and cells presenting said peptide in complex with MHC molecules are described. Also provided by the present invention are binding moieties that bind to the peptides and/or complexes of the invention. Such moieties are useful for the development of immunotherapeutic reagents for the treatment of diseases such as cancer.

A method for treating osteoarthritis in a subject includes administering to a subject in need of such treatments a synthetic peptide, which has an amino acid sequence that has 20-39 amino acid residues. The synthetic peptide has at least 20 consecutive residues that has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to residues 11-30 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

A method for treating osteoarthritis in a subject includes administering to a subject in need of such treatments a synthetic peptide, which has an amino acid sequence that has 20-39 amino acid residues. The synthetic peptide has at least 20 consecutive residues that has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to residues 11-30 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

A composition comprising a first peptide selected from tripeptide, tetrapeptide and mixtures thereof; a second peptide selected from pentapeptide, hexapeptide, and mixtures thereof; an extract from the Laminaria genus, and whey protein, and a method for stimulating collagen synthesis in skin cells.

Methods of treating or inhibiting inflammation in a subject include administering an anti-inflammatory protein to the subject. In some embodiments, the protein has at least 80% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence set forth as SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 17, or fragments thereof. Isolated polypeptides, nucleic acids, and recombinant vectors including a nucleic acid encoding the anti-inflammatory protein (such as a nucleic acid encoding a protein with at least 80% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 17, or fragments thereof) operably linked to a heterologous promoter are also disclosed.