Protein vesicles and methods of making and using thereof
Patent Number: US20160158154

Executive Summary:
  • Invention Type: Diagnostic/Prognostic/Therapeutic
  • Patent Status: Application
  • Patent Link: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160158154/
  • Research Institute: Georgia Tech
  • Disease Focus: No specific cancer type, general tool for delivering agents in protein vesicles for therapy, research or diagnostic purposes
  • Basis of Invention: The invention is a method for producing protein vesicles for delivery of small molecules (e.g. fluorescent probes) or biologics (e.g. antibodies). The vesicles can be coated with targeting moieties (e.g. antibodies), fluorescent probes (e.g. mCherry) or other molecules
  • How it works: The protein vesicles self-assemble from amphiphile building blocks. Amphiphiles contain hydrophobic (water-hating) and hydrophilic (water-loving) regions. The entire process is detailed in the associated publication: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja5090157. The hollow, protein vesicles can be loaded with any various types of molecular cargo (e.g. therapeutic small molecules) and made to contain various types of surface molecules that convey functions such as tissue specificity and fluorescence for targeting and tracking
  • Lead Challenge Inventor: Julie A. Champion
  • Inventors: Julie A. Champion, Won Min Park
  • Novelty:
    • Other methods of delivering molecular payloads exist, but this method is unique in that proteins rather liposomes are used. Proteins vesicles that self-assemble are at the cutting edge of nanotechnology
  • Clinical Applications:
    • The patent describes cleavable isotype probes that can be used on patient samples for prognostic/diagnostic purposes
 
General Description:
Glycosylation in cancer is relatively unexplored and is a hot research area. The invention, called Iso-TaG, could provide more information on glycosylated proteins by preserving intact glycans throughout processing and adding cleavable isotope probes that allow for tagging and detection of glycans and peptides.

Strengths:
  • The invention could provide more information on glycosylated proteins by preserving intact glycans throughout processing and adding cleavable isotope probes that allow for tagging and detection of specific glycans and peptides. The isotope probes give very specific (high resolution) signals using mass spectrometry.
 
Weaknesses:
  • The importance of protein glycosylation in cancer is still under investigation. It is unclear whether differential glycosylation status will be therapeutically actionable or of prognostic/diagnostic importance.
 
Patent Status:
  • Publication date                  Jun 30, 2016
  • Filing date                          Dec 3, 2015
  • Priority date                       Dec 5, 2014

Publications:
Colloidal Assembly of Hierarchically Structured Porous Supraparticles from Flower-Shaped Protein-Inorganic Hybrid Nanoparticles.
Park WM, Champion JA. ACS Nano. 2016 Sep 27;10(9):8271-80. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.6b01003. Epub 2016 Aug 23. PMID: 27552189

Thermally triggered self-assembly of folded proteins into vesicles. Park WM, Champion JA. J Am Chem Soc. 2014 Dec 31;136(52):17906-9. doi: 10.1021/ja5090157. Epub 2014 Dec 11. PMID: 25495148

Two-step protein self-assembly in the extracellular matrix. Park WM, Champion JA. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Jul 29;52(31):8098-101. doi: 10.1002/anie.201302331. Epub 2013 Jun 20. No abstract available. PMID: 23788217
 
Inventor Bio: Julie A. Champion
http://champion.chbe.gatech.edu/Champion.html