| abstract |
(57) SUMMARY The present invention relates to chimeric nucleic acids, and further to the induction of therapeutic apoptosis in activated inflammatory cells at sites of inflammation by introducing the chimeric nucleic acids into these cells. The chimeric nucleic acid comprises at least one TNFα promoter enhancer linked to a functional copy of the TNFα promoter, wherein the functional copy of the TNFα promoter is further linked to at least one copy of an apoptosis-inducing gene, the latter further comprising a 3′UTR Is joined to. The apoptosis-inducing gene is granzyme B. The present invention also relates to a method for producing and using a self-regulating apoptotic chimeric nucleic acid, and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the same for treating an inflammatory disease. |