| abstract |
The present invention relates to a protein in which a serine protease inhibitor peptide such as Kunitz domain peptide (including but not limited to fragments and variants thereof) is fused to albumin or a fragment or variant thereof. These fusion proteins are generically referred to herein as “albumin fusion proteins of the invention”. These fusion proteins exhibit long shelf life and / or long-term or therapeutic activity in the dissolved state. The present invention encompasses therapeutic albumin fusion proteins, compositions, pharmaceutical compositions, formulations and kits. The present invention provides nucleic acid molecules encoding the albumin fusion proteins of the present invention, vectors containing these nucleic acids, host cells transformed with these nucleic acids and vectors, and these nucleic acids, vectors and / or host cells. It also includes a method of using the albumin fusion protein of the present invention. The invention also relates to compositions and methods for inhibiting neutrophil elastase, kallikrein and plasmin. The invention further relates to compositions and methods for treating cystic fibrosis and cancer. |