Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides
  • A61K38/16—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
  • A61K38/17—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • A61K38/19—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • A61K38/193—Colony stimulating factors [CSF]
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P1/00—Drugs for disorders of the alimentary tract or the digestive system
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P13/00—Drugs for disorders of the urinary system
  • A61P13/12—Drugs for disorders of the urinary system of the kidneys
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P27/00—Drugs for disorders of the senses
  • A61P27/02—Ophthalmic agents
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P3/00—Drugs for disorders of the metabolism
  • A61P3/06—Antihyperlipidemics
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P35/00—Antineoplastic agents
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P43/00—Drugs for specific purposes, not provided for in groups A61P1/00-A61P41/00
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P9/00—Drugs for disorders of the cardiovascular system
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P9/00—Drugs for disorders of the cardiovascular system
  • A61P9/10—Drugs for disorders of the cardiovascular system for treating ischaemic or atherosclerotic diseases, e.g. antianginal drugs, coronary vasodilators, drugs for myocardial infarction, retinopathy, cerebrovascula insufficiency, renal arteriosclerosis
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K48/00—Medicinal preparations containing genetic material which is inserted into cells of the living body to treat genetic diseases; Gene therapy

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to the modulation of neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections.
• the present invention provides a method for enhancing neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections comprising contacting an organ, tissue or cells with a colony stimulating factor (CSF) or a nucleic acid molecule encoding said CSF.
• CSF colony stimulating factor
• the present invention also relates to the use of a CSF or a nucleic acid molecule encoding said CSF for the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions for enhancing neovascularization and/or collateral growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections.
• the present invention relates to a method for the treatment of tumors comprising contacting an organ, tissue or cells with an agent which suppresses neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections through the inhibition of the biological activity of a CSF.
• the present invention further involves the use of an agent which suppresses neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections through the inhibition of the biological activity of a CSF for the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of tumors.
• vascular growth in adult organisms proceeds via two distinct mechanisms, sprouting of capillaries (angiogenesis) and in situ enlargement of preexisting arteriolar connections into true collateral arteries (Schaper, J. Collateral Circulation - Heart, Brain, Kidney, Limbs. Boston, Dordrecht, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1993).
• VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor
• Recent studies have disclosed mechanisms leading to angiogenesis with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as a major component (Tuder, J. Clin. Invest. 95 (1995), 1798-1807; Plate, Nature 359 (1992), 845-848; Ferrara, Endocrine Reviews 13 (1992), 18-42; Klagsbrun, Annu. Rev. Physiol.
• agents such as VEGF and other growth factors are presently being employed to stimulate the development of angiogenesis after arterial occlusion, such agents are not envisaged as being capable of modulating the growth of preexisting arteriolar connections into true collateral arteries.
• the technical problem of the present invention is to provide pharmaceutical compositions and methods for the modulation of neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections.
• the invention relates to a method for enhancing the neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections comprising contacting an organ, tissue or cells with a colony stimulating factor (CSF) or a nucleic acid molecule encoding said CSF.
• CSF colony stimulating factor
• arteriogenesis is the in situ growth of arteries by proliferation of endothelial and smooth muscle cells from preexisting arteriolar connections supplying blood to ischemic tissue, tumor or sites of inflammation. These vessels largely grow outside the affected tissue but are much more important for the delivery of nutrients to the ischemic territory, the tumor or the site of inflammation than capillaries sprouting in the diseased tissue by angiogenic processes.
• colony stimulating factor refers to proteins and peptides which can act on macrophages and which are capable of promoting collateral artery growth by direct activation, proliferation and/or potentiation of the effector functions of resident and newly-recruited macrophages.
• any CSF or other substances which are functionally equivalent to a CSF, namely which are capable of promoting collateral artery growth can be used for the purpose of the present invention.
• the action of the CSF employed in the present invention may not be limited to the above-described specificity but they may also act on, for example eosinophils, lymphocyte subpopulations and/or stem cells.
• the CSF is antiatherogenic.
• GM-CSF Granulocyte-Macrophage-Colo ⁇ y-Stimulating-Factor
• CSFs that can be employed in accordance with the present invention are particularly suited for the treatment of atheriosclerosis.
• Experiments performed within the scope of the present invention demonstrate that local infusion of GM-CSF increases both collateral- and peripheral conductance after femoral artery occlusion due to enhanced vessel growth by its proliferative effects on macrophages.
• CSFs or nucleic acid molecules encoding CSFs can be used for the activation and proliferation of macrophages which in turn leads to neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries as well as to growth of arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections, which is needed for the cure of several occlusive diseases.
• G-CSF Granulocyte colony stimulating factor
• GM-CSF granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor
• the CSFs to be employed in the methods and uses of the present invention may be obtained from various sources described in the prior art; see, e.g., Gaertner, Bioconjugate Chemistry 3 (1992), 262-268; Dexter, European Journal of Cancer 30A (1994), 15-9; Rohde, Developments in Biological Standardization 83 (1994), 121 - 127; Lu, Protein Expression & Purification 4 (1993), 465-472; Itoh, Tanpakushitsu Kakusan Koso - Protein, Nucleic Acid, Enzyme 35, 2620-2631.
• CSF colony stimulating factor
• the functional part of said protein or the functionally equivalent protein may be a derivative of an CSF by way of amino acid deletion(s), substitution(s), insertion(s), addition(s) and/or replacement(s) of the amino acid sequence, for example by means of site directed mutagenesis of the underlying DNA.
• Recombinant DNA technology is well known to those skilled in the art and described, for example, in Sambrook et al. (Molecular cloning; A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor NY (1989)). Modified CSFs are described, e.g., in Yamasaki, Journal of Biochemistry 115 (1994), 814-819.
• CSFs or functional parts thereof or proteins which are functionally equivalent to CSFs may be produced by known conventional chemical syntheses or recombinant techniques employing the amino acid and DNA sequences described in the prior art; see, e.g., EP-A-0 177 568; Han, Source Gene 175 (1996), 101-104; Kothari, Blood Cells, Molecules & Diseases 21 (1995), 192-200; Holloway, European Journal of Cancer 30A (1994), 2-6.
• CSFs may be produced by culturing a suitable cell or cell line which has been transformed with a DNA sequence encoding upon expression under the control of regulatory sequences a CSF or a functional part thereof or a protein which is functionally equivalent to CSF.
• the invention relates to the use of a colony stimulating factor (CSF) or a nucleic acid molecule encoding said CSF for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for enhancing neovascularization and/or collateral growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections.
• CSF colony stimulating factor
• the pharmaceutical composition comprises at least one CSF as defined above, and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or exipient.
• suitable pharmaceutical carriers include phosphate buffered saline solutions, water, emulsions, such as oil/water emulsions, various types of wetting agents, sterile solutions etc.
• Compositions comprising such carriers can be formulated by conventional methods.
• the pharmaceutical compositions can be administered to the subject at a suitable dose.
• the dosage regimen may be determined by the attending physician considering the condition of the patient, the severity of the disease and other clinical factors.
• Administration of the suitable compositions may be effected by different ways, e.g. by intravenous, intraperetoneal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, topical or intradermal administration.
• the dosage regimen will be determined by the attending physician and other clinical factors. As is well known in the medical arts, dosages for any one patient depends upon many factors, including the patient's size, body surface area, age, the particular compound to be administered, sex, time and route of administration, general health, and other drugs being administered concurrently. Generally, the regimen as a regular administration of the pharmaceutical composition should be in the range of 1 ⁇ g to 10 mg units per day. If the regimen is a continuous infusion, it should also be in the range of 1 ⁇ g to 10 mg units per kilogram of body weight per minute, respectively. Progress can be monitored by periodic assessment. Dosages will vary but a preferred dosage for intravenous administration of DNA is from approximately 10 6 to 10 12 copies of the DNA molecule.
• compositions of the invention may be administered locally or systemically. Administration will generally be parenterally, e.g., intravenously; DNA may also be administered directly to the target site, e.g., by biolistic delivery to an internal or external target site or by catheter to a site in an artery.
• said CSF used in the methods and uses of the invention is selected from the group consisting of Granulocyte-Macrophage-Colony-Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF), Granulocyte-Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF), Macrophage- Colony-Stimulating Factor (M-CSF), Colony-Stimulating Factor (CSF-I), functionally equivalent substances or functional derivatives thereof.
• GM-CSF Granulocyte-Macrophage-Colony-Stimulating Factor
• G-CSF Granulocyte-Colony-Stimulating Factor
• M-CSF Macrophage- Colony-Stimulating Factor
• CSF-I Colony-Stimulating Factor
• the methods and uses of the invention may be employed for diseases caused by a vascular disease or a cardiac infarct or a stroke or for any disease where an increase of blood supply via collaterals, arteries etc. is needed.
• the methods and uses of the invention are designed to be applied to a subject suffering from arteriosclerosis, a coronary artery disease, a cerebral occlusive disease, a peripheral occlusive disease, a visceral occlusive disease, renal occlusive disease, a mesenterial arterial insufficiency or an ophthamic or retenal occlusion or for any disease where atherosclerotic plaques in the vascular wall lead to an obstruction of the vessel diameter.
• the methods and uses of the invention are designed to be applied to a subject during or after exposure to an agent or radiation or surgical treatment which damage or destroy arteries.
• the CSF used in the methods and uses of the invention is a recombinant CSF.
• DNA sequences encoding CSFs which can be used in the methods and uses of the invention are described in the prior art; see, e.g., Holloway, European Journal of Cancer 30A (1994), 2-6 or references cited above.
• DNA and amino acid sequences of CSFs are available in the Gene Bank database.
• methods for the production of recombinant proteins are well- known to the person skilled in the art; see, e.g., Sambrook, supra.
• the method and the use of the present invention is designed to be applied in conjugation with a growth factor, preferably fibroblast growth factor or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
• a growth factor preferably fibroblast growth factor or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
• VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor
• This embodiment is particularly suited for enhancing of both sprouting of capillaries (angiogenesis) and in situ enlargement of preexisting arteriolar connections into true collateral arteries.
• Pharmaceutical compositions comprising, for example, CSF such as GM-CSF, and a growth factor such as VEGF may be used for the treatment of peripheral vascular diseases or coronary artery disease.
• the method of the invention comprises
• step (c) reintroducing the cells, tissue or organ obtained in step (b) into the same subject or a different subject.
• the CSFs and the nucleic acid molecules encoding the CSFs are administered either alone or in combination, and optionally together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or exipient.
• Said nucleic acid molecules may be stably integrated into the genome of the cell or may be maintained in a form extrachromosomally, see, e.g., Calos, Trends Genet. 12 (1996), 463-466.
• viral vectors described in the prior art may be used for transfecting certain cells, tissues or organs.
• a pharmaceutical composition of the invention which comprises a nucleic acid molecule encoding a CSF in gene therapy.
• Suitable gene delivery systems may include liposomes, receptor-mediated delivery systems, naked DNA, and viral vectors such as herpes viruses, retroviruses, adenoviruses, and adeno-associated viruses, among others. Delivery of nucleic acid molecules to a specific site in the body for gene therapy may also be accomplished using a biolistic delivery system, such as that described by Williams (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88 (1991 ), 2726-2729).
• Standard methods for transfecting cells with nucleic acid molecules are well known to those skilled in the art of molecular biology, see, e.g., WO 94/29469.
• Gene therapy to prevent or decrease the development of diseases described herein may be carried out by directly administering the nucleic acid molecule encoding a CSF to a patient or by transfecting cells with said nucleic acid molecule ex vivo and infusing the transfected cells into the patient.
• research pertaining to gene transfer into cells of the germ line is one of the fastest growing fields in reproductive biology.
• Gene therapy which is based on introducing therapeutic genes into cells by ex-vivo or in-vivo techniques is one of the most important applications of gene transfer.
• Suitable vectors and methods for in-vitro or in-vivo gene therapy are described in the literature and are known to the person skilled in the art; see, e.g., Giordano, Nature Medicine 2 (1996), 534-539; Schaper, Circ. Res. 79 (1996), 91 1 - 919; Anderson, Science 256 (1992), 808-813; Isner, Lancet 348 (1996), 370-374; Muhlhauser, Circ. Res. 77 (1995), 1077-1086; Wang, Nature Medicine 2 (1996), 714- 716; WO94/29469; WO 97/00957 or Schaper, Current Opinion in Biotechnology 7 (1996), 635-640, and references cited therein.
• the nucleic acid molecules comprised in the pharmaceutical composition of the invention may be designed for direct introduction or for introduction via liposomes, or viral vectors (e.g. adenoviral, retroviral) containing said nucleic acid molecule into the cell.
• said cell is a germ line cell, embryonic cell, or egg cell or derived therefrom.
• the introduced nucleic acid molecules encoding the CSF express said CSF after introduction into said cell and preferably remain in this status during the lifetime of said cell.
• cell lines which stably express said CSF may be engineered according to methods well known to those skilled in the art. Rather than using expression vectors which contain viral origins of replication, host cells can be transformed with the recombinant DNA molecule or vector of the invention and a selectable marker, either on the same or separate vectors. Following the introduction of foreign DNA, engineered cells may be allowed to grow for 1-2 days in an enriched media, and then are switched to a selective media.
• the selectable marker in the recombinant plasmid confers resistance to the selection and allows for the selection of cells having stably integrated the plasmid into their chromosomes and grow to form foci which in turn can be cloned and expanded into cell lines.
• This method may advantageously be used to engineer cell lines which express a CSF.
• Such cells may be also be administered in accordance with the pharmaceutical compositions, methods and uses of the invention.
• a number of selection systems may be used, including but not limited to the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (Wigler, Cell 11 (1977), 223), hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (Szybalska, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
• neo which confers resistance to the aminoglycoside G-418 (Colberre-Garapin, J. Mol. Biol. 150 (1981 ), 1 ); hygro, which confers resistance to hygromycin (Santerre, Gene 30 (1984), 147); or puromycin (pat, puromycin N-acetyl transferase).
• trpB which allows cells to utilize indole in place of tryptophan
• hisD which allows cells to utilize histinol in place of histidine (Hartman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
• the nucleic acid molecule comprised in the pharmaceutical composition for the use of the invention is designed for the expression of the CSF by cells in vivo by, for example, direct introduction of said nucleic acid molecule or introduction of a plasmid, a plasmid in liposomes, or a viral vector (e.g. adenoviral, retroviral) containing said nucleic acid molecule.
• a viral vector e.g. adenoviral, retroviral
• the CSF derivative or functional equivalent substance is an antibody, (poly)peptide, nucleic acid, small organic compound, ligand, hormone, PNA or peptidomimetic.
• the CSFs to be employed according to the present invention may be, e.g., modified by conventional methods known in the art.
• fragments which retain the biological activity of CSFs as described above, namely the capability of promoting collateral artery growth.
• This further allows the construction of chimeric proteins and peptides wherein other functional amino acid sequences may be either physically linked by, e.g., chemical means to the CSF or may be fused by recombinant DNA techniques well known in the art.
• folding simulations and computer redesign of structural motifs of the CSFs or their receptors can be performed using appropriate computer programs (Olszewski, Proteins 25 (1996), 286-299; Hoffman, Comput. Appl.
• incorporation of easily available achiral ⁇ -amino acid residues into a CSF protein or a fragment thereof results in the substitution of amide bonds by polymethylene units of an aliphatic chain, thereby providing a convenient strategy for constructing a peptidomimetic (Banerjee, Biopolymers 39 (1996), 769-777).
• Superactive peptidomimetic analogues of small peptide hormones in other systems are described in the prior art (Zhang, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 224 (1996), 327- 331 ).
• Appropriate peptidomimetics of CSF may also be identified by the synthesis of peptidomimetic combinatorial libraries through successive amide alkylation and testing the resulting compounds, e.g., according to the methods described in the prior art. Methods for the generation and use of peptidomimetic combinatorial libraries are described in the prior art, for example in Ostresh, Methods in Enzymology 267 (1996), 220-234 and Dorner, Bioorg. Med. Chem. 4 (1996), 709-715. Furthermore, antibodies or fragments thereof may be employed which, e.g., upon binding to a CSF-receptor mimic the biological activity of a CSF.
• a three-dimensional and/or crystallographic structure of the CSF or of its receptor can be used for the design of peptidomimetic inhibitors of the biological activity of a CSF (Rose, Biochemistry 35 (1996), 12933-12944; Rutenber, Bioorg. Med. Chem. 4 (1996), 1545-1558).
• the present invention also relates to a method for the treatment of tumors comprising contacting an organ, tissue or ceils with an agent which suppresses neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections through the inhibition of the biological activity of a CSF
• Tumor Macrophages require specific growth factors, e g , M-CSF/CSF-1 , for their proliferation throughout the G1 phase of the cell cycle
• M-CSF/CSF-1 growth factors
• macrophages complete mitosis in the absence of M-CSF/CSF-1
• cyclin D a cell cyclus regulator, that together with cyclin dependent kinase (cdk 4) promotes entry of the cell into M-phase (Alberts, Biology of the Cell (1989), Second Edition) is induced by M-CSF/CSF-1 stimulation
• the enzymatic activity of cyclin D could be negatively regulated by recently reported inhibitory proteins to determine the timing for entry into S phase in macrophages (Matsushime, Japanese Journal of Clinical Hematology 36 (1995), 406-409)
• CSFs promote neovascularization and collateral artery growth withdrawal of these factors should result in inhibition or decrease of neovascularization and/or collateral artery growth and, thus, in the suppression of tumor growth Agents which suppress neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections may be peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, antibodies, small organic compounds, hormones, neural transmitters, peptidomimics, or PNAs (Milner, Nature Medicine 1 (1995), 879-880, Hupp, Cell 83 (1995), 237-245, Gibbs, Cell
• the present invention further relates to the use of an agent which suppresses neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections through the inhibition of the biological activity of a CSF for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of tumors.
• the agent used in the methods and uses of the invention as described above inhibits the biological activity of a CSF and/or inhibits an intracellular signal or signal cascade comprising MAPK and/or JNK/SAPK triggered in macrophages through the receptor for the CSF.
• Various receptors of CSFs are described in the prior art, for example in Chemokine Receptors.
• said receptor is a CSF receptor. Said receptor or specific domains thereof which a responsible for triggering a signal leading to collateral artery growth may be blocked or modulated by methods described herein.
• the agent used in the methods and uses of the invention is a(n) antibody, (poly)peptide, nucleic acid, small organic compound, ligand, hormone, PNA or peptidomimetic.
• Nucleic acid molecules specifically hybridizing to CSF encoding genes and/or their regulatory sequences may be used for repression of expression of said gene, for example due to an antisense or triple helix effect or they may be used for the construction of appropriate ribozymes (see, e.g., EP-B1 0 291 533, EP-A1 0 321 201 , EP-A2 0 360 257) which specifically cleave the (pre)-mRNA of a gene encoding a CSF.
• CSFs The nucleic and amino acid sequences encoding CSFs are known in the art and described, for example, in Han, Source Gene 175 (1996), 101-104; Kothari, Blood Cells, Molecules & Diseases 21 (1995), 192-200 or in Holloway, European Journal of Cancer 30A (1994), 2-6. Selection of appropriate target sites and corresponding ribozymes can be done as described for example in Steinecke, Ribozymes, Methods in Cell Biology 50, Galbraith et al eds Academic Press, Inc (1995), 449-460
• Nucleic acids comprise DNA or RNA or hybrids thereof Furthermore, said nucleic acid may contain, for example, thioester bonds and/or nucleotide analogues, commonly used in oligonucleotide anti-sense approaches Said modifications may be useful for the stabilization of the nucleic acid molecule against endo- and/or exonucleases in the cell Furthermore, the so-called "peptide nucleic acid” (PNA) technique can be used for the inhibition of the expression of a gene encoding a CSF For example, the binding of PNAs to complementary as well as various single stranded RNA and DNA nucleic acid molecules can be systematically investigated using, e g , thermal denaturation and BIAcore surface-interaction techniques (Jensen, Biochemistry 36 (1997), 5072-5077) The synthesis of PNAs can be performed according to methods known in the art, for example, as described in Koch, J Pept Res 49 (1997), 80-88, Finn, Nucleic Acids Research 24
• antibodies may be employed specifically recognizing CSF or their receptors or parts, i e specific fragments or epitopes of such CSFs and receptors thereby inactivating the CSF or the CSF receptor
• These antibodies can be monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies or synthetic antibodies as well as fragments of antibodies, such as Fab, Fv or scFv fragments etc
• Antibodies or fragments thereof can be obtained by using methods which are described, e g , in Harlow and Lane “Antibodies, A Laboratory Manual", CSH Press, Cold Spring Harbor, 1988 or EP-B1 0 451 216 and references cited therein
• surface plasmon resonance as employed in the BIAcore system can be used to increase the efficiency of phage antibodies which bind to an epitope of the CSF or its receptor (Schier, Human Antibodies Hyb ⁇ domas 7 (1996), 97-105, Malmborg, J Immunol Methods 183 (1995), 7-13)
• Putative inhibitors which can be used in accordance with the present invention including peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, antibodies, small organic compounds, ligands, hormones, peptidomimetics, PNAs and the like capable of inhibiting the biological activity of a CSF or its receptor may be identified according to the methods known in the art, for example as described in EP-A-0 403 506 or in the appended examples
• the agent which blocks the interaction of the CSF and its receptor is selected from the group consisting of
• the agent is designed to be expressed in vascular cells or cells surrounding preexisting arteriolar connections to a tumor
• a tumor which is a vascular tumor, preferably selected from the group consisting of Colon Carcinoma, Sarcoma, Carcinoma in the breast, Carcinoma in the head/neck, Mesothelioma, Glioblastoma, Lymphoma and Meningeoma
• the pharmaceutical composition in the use of the invention is designed for administration by catheter intraarte ⁇ al, intravenous, intrape ⁇ toneal or subcutenous routes
• the CSF protein was administered locally via osmotic mimpump
• the use and methods of the invention can be used for the treatment of all kinds of diseases hitherto unknown as being related to or dependent on the modulation of neovascularization and/or the growth of collateral arteries and/or other arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections
• the methods and uses of the present invention may be desirably employed in humans, although animal treatment is also encompassed by the methods and uses described herein
• Figure 1 Angiography of the whole right leg of an animal treated with GM-CSF.
• Figure 2 Angiography of the whole right leg (A) and of the collateral circulation (B)
• Example 1 Femoral artery occlusion of animals and local delivery of agents
• mice were subjected to 7 days of right femoral artery occlusion. They were randomly assigned to either receive GM-CSF (Novartis, Nuernberg, Germany) (2ML- 2, Alza Corp; 3 ⁇ g in 2 mL PBS at a rate of 10 ⁇ L/h) or PBS locally via osmotic minipump.
• GM-CSF Novartis, Nuernberg, Germany
• xylazine 8 to 9 mg/kg body weight.
• Supplementary doses of anesthetic (10% to 20% of the initial dose) were given intravenously as needed.
• the surgical procedure was performed under sterile conditions. Femoral arteries were exposed and cannulated with a sterile polyethylene catheter (inner diameter: 1 mm; outer diameter: 1 ,5mm) pointing upstream, with the tip of the catheter positioned distal to the branching of the arteria circemflexa femoris.
• the catheter itself was connected to the osmotic minipump (2ML-2, Alza Corp), which was implanted under the skin of the lower right abdomen. After that the animals were outfitted with a specially designed body suit that allowed them to move freely but prevented self-mutilation. The rabbits were housed individually with free access to water and chow to secure mobility.
• the body weights and body temperature in rabbits treated with GM-CSF did not significantly differ from those of control rabbits. Serum values of total protein, albumin, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, and glutamic pyruvic transaminase were not significantly changed by the GM-CSF treatment.
• the following muscles were dissected from the leg: Quadriceps, adductor longus, adductor magnus, gastrocnemius, soleus, and peroneal muscles. Each muscle was divided into 3 three consecutive samples from the proximal to the distal end. The whole muscle and afterwards each sample were weighed and cut to small pieces. The muscle sample were then placed loosely into 12 mm x 75 mm polystyrene tubes (Becton Dickinson & Co, Lincoln Park, NJ) and 3 ml of SDS solution [SDS solution (Boehringer Mannheim Corp.): 1 % SDS (Boehringer Mannheim Corp.), 0,5% sodium azide (Sigma Chemical Company, St.
• microspheres were counted using a flow cytometer (FACS-Calibur) equipped with a second laser and a detector for a fourth fluorescence.
• Flows for each sample were calculated from the number of microspheres in the sample (m s ), the respective microspheres count in the reference sample (m rs ), the internal standard in the sample (ISs), internal standard in the reference sample (IS rs), the weight of the reference sample (W) and the time during which the reference sample was withdrawn using following equation.
• collateral arteries developing after femoral artery occlusion in typical corkscrew formation supply blood to the distal adductor region and the lower leg.
• the systemic pressure [SP] and peripheral pressure [PP] was measured.
• Venous pressure was equal to atmospheric pressure [AP] (zero in the present case). Since arterial resistances are much lower than collateral and peripheral resistances, they can be neglected.
• SP represent the pressure at the stem region of the collateral arteries.
• PP is the pressure at the reentry region and is identical to the pressure head of the circulation in lower leg; AP, the pressure at the venous end of the peripheral circulation.
• Collateral flow is equal to the sum of flow to the tissue of the distal adductor plus the flow to the tissue of the lower leg.
• Collateral resistance was defined as pressure difference between SP and PP divided by the flow going to the distal adductor an the lower leg.
• Peripheral resistance was defined as PP divided by flow to the lower leg
• bulk conductance was defined as SP divided by bulk flow recorded with the ultrasonic flow probe. The reciprocal values of these resistances represent collateral, peripheral, and bulk conductance. Because a positive pressure intercept is observed event at maximal vasodilation, all conductances were calculated from the slope of pressure-flow relations. Data are described as mean + SD. Differences among data were assessed using unpaired Student ' s t-test for intergroup comparisons and Mann-Whithney rank-sum test for unequal variances. Values of p ⁇ .05 were required for assumption of statistical significance. Collateral conductance was significantly higher after 1 week of occlusion in animals treated with GM-CSF compared with animals without this treatment.
• the results of the experiments performed in accordance with the present invention indicate that CSFs are capable of mediating neovascularization and/or collateral artery growth and/or growth of arteries from preexisting arteriolar connections due to macrophage recruitment that might be mediated by a direct effect of CSFs on macrophage activation, proliferation, motility, and survival and, secondarily, by chemoattractant molecules released in response to locally administered CSFs.
• the present invention provides for novel means and methods for the treatment of diseases which depend on neovascularization and/or collateral artery growth.

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• 1998
  • 1998-10-01 DE DE69821011T patent/DE69821011T3/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-10-01 ES ES98951483T patent/ES2221212T5/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-10-01 WO PCT/EP1998/006233 patent/WO1999017798A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1998-10-01 EP EP98951483A patent/EP1019082B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-10-01 AT AT98951483T patent/ATE257392T1/de active
  • 1998-10-01 US US09/509,764 patent/US7507705B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-10-01 JP JP2000514667A patent/JP4891477B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-10-01 DK DK98951483T patent/DK1019082T4/da active
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• 2008
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  • 2008-12-11 US US12/332,937 patent/US20090191146A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2009
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