Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of pancreatic cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of pancreatic cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of breast cancer.

Abstract: Compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of pancreatic cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of breast cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of pancreatic cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating different forms of pancreatic cancer.

Abstract: A method for treatment of infection with Listeria spp., Plasmodium spp., or Shigella spp. includes administering a peptide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the peptide to an individual in need of treatment for the infection.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of peptide compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of ophthalmic diseases. In particular, the present invention relates to a peptide compound comprising an amino acid sequence displayed by amino acids 7 to 11 of SEQ ID NO: 2 (KEQWFGNRWHEGYR) or of SEQ ID NO: 1 (KEKWFENEWQGKNP), or a functionally active derivative thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in the prevention and/or treatmend of an ophthalmic disease in an individual. While SEQ ID NO: 2 is a part of the human CD44v6, SEQ ID NO: 1 is a part of the rat CD44v6.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of peptide compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of ophthalmic diseases. In particular, the present invention relates to a peptide compound comprising an amino acid sequence displayed by amino acids 7 to 11 of SEQ ID NO: 2 (KEQWFGNRWHEGYR) or of SEQ ID NO: 1 (KEKWFENEWQGKNP), or a functionally active derivative thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in the prevention and/or treatmend of an ophthalmic disease in an individual. While SEQ ID NO: 2 is a part of the human CD44v6, SEQ ID NO: 1 is a part of the rat CD44v6.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of peptide compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of a bacterial infection.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for identifying compounds which suppress and/or delay the development of invasive or metastasizing tumor cells of the colon, of the pancreas, of the ovaries or of the thyroid.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for identifying compounds which modify the activity of the intracellular tumor suppressor gene nf2, where the activity of the protein NF2, which is encoded by the gene nf2, is modified by an extracellular interaction of the compounds with the cell surface protein CD44.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of anti-CD44 antibodies of both the constant (sDC44) and the variable part of CD44 (vCD44) for treating certain tumours and other diseases associated with the degeneration and activation of Langerhans cells (LC) and dendritic cells (DC) inside a mammalian body, including humans, and for treating undesirable immune reactions.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a novel composition for identifying and suppressing the growth of tumor cells, which comprises antibodies which react with proteins having N-glycosidically bonded saccharides.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for diagnosing and analysing tumours which is based on detecting the expression of certain variant exons of the CD44-gene. Detection may be carried out at the protein or nucleic acid level. In a preferred embodiment the expression is detected in biopsy material using exon-specific antibodies. Thus, for example, v6-expression is a suitable prognostic parameter for breast cancer, the expression of a transitional epitope which is coded by exons v7 and v8 serves to diagnose cervical cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of reducing or suppressing an immune response with antibodies specific for variants of the glycoprotein CD44. The invention further relates to a method of preventing or treating an immunoregulatory disorder or disease with these antibodies.

Abstract: The inventon relates to antibodies that react with a variant epilope in the extracellular region of a variant CD44 polypeptide, wherein the variant epitope has the amino acid sequence:I S S T I S T T P R A P D H T K Q N Q D W T Q W N P S H S N P EV L L Q T T T R M T D V D R N G T T A Y E G N W N P E A H P P LI H H E H H E E E E T P H S T S T I O A T P S S T T E E T A T QK E Q W F G N R W H E G Y R Q T P R E D S H S T T G T A A A S AH T S H P M Q G R T T P S P E D S S W T D F F N P I S H P M G RG H Q A G R R (residues 53-219 of SEQ ID NO:4). Methods of using the antibodies to identify variant epitopes also are provided.

Abstract: A monoclonal antibody (MAb1.1ASML) directed against a surface glycoprotein of the metastasizing rat pancreatic carcinoma cell line BSp73ASML, was used to identify and isolate a complementary DNA (cDNA) clone capable of encoding for a glycoprotein with partial homology to CD44, a presumed adhesion molecule. This clone, which was subsequently designated pMeta-1, contains an additional extracellular domain of 162 amino acids inserted into the CD44 protein between amino acid positions 223 and 247 (by analogy to human and murine CD44). This new variant was expressed only in the metastasizing cell lines of two rat tumors, the pancreatic carcinoma BSp73 and the mammary adenocarcinoma 13762NF; it was not expressed in non-metastasizing tumor cell lines nor in normal rat tissues. Overexpression of pMeta-1 in the nonmetastasizing BSp73AS cell line suffices to establish full metastatic behavior. The variant-specific rat CD44 sequence was used to isolate a cDNA clone encoding for a human homologue as well.

Abstract: The presence of certain extracellular regions ("ECR") from human and rat variants of the CD44 membrane glycoprotein have been found to be associated with metastasis ability in tumor cells. Isolated polynucleotides encoding the ECRs permit expression of the ECR polypeptide, which in turn can be used as an antigen to obtain monoclonal antibodies that recognize the ECR polypeptide. The anti-ECR monoclonal antibodies have the ability to prevent metastasis by tumor cells that would otherwise metastasize and spread.