| abstract |
The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising a fragment ofnSerrate protein or a derivative or analog of said fragment, or comprising a derivative ornanalog of a Serrate protein, or comprising a protein comprising such a fragment, derivativenor analog, the fragments, derivatives, analogs and proteins being characterized by thenability in vitro, when expressed on the surface of a first cell, to bind to a Notch proteinnexpressed on the surface of a second cell. The invention also relates to chimeric proteinsncomprising said Serrate fragments joined via a peptide bond to a protein sequence of anprotein different from the Serrate protein, and to nucleic acids encoding said fragments of anSerrate protein, and encoding said chimeric proteins. According to the invention, saidnfragments, derivatives, analogs, and proteins, said chimeric proteins and said nucleic acidsnmay be used as a medicament, for example, in treating or preventing malignancy in ansubject. |