PROTEIN ENGINEERING AND DESIGN FOR DRUG-DELIVERY

Over the past decade considerable effort has been focused on the genet ic construction, expression, and characterization of fusion proteins d esigned to selectively target specific disease-causing cells and/or ex tracellular targets. In each instance, the coding sequences for the fu nctional domains of different proteins have been genetically fused, re sulting in the formation of fusion proteins which retain the function of their component segments. As anticipated from their design, many of these fusion proteins offer a marked therapeutic advantage over conve ntional agents in preclinical studies. While several recombinant fusio n proteins have entered or will shortly begin Phase I/II human clinica l trials, the first of these fusion proteins is currently being evalua ted in Phase III human clinical trials for the treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma.