Inventors:
Robert Edward Burrell - Sherwood Park, CA
John Barrymore Wright - San Antonio TX, US
Kan Lam - San Antonio TX, US
Assignee:
Nueryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. - Fort Saskatchewan
International Classification:
A61K 9/14, A61K 31/28, A61K 33/24, A61K 33/38, A61P 19/00
US Classification:
424618, 424400, 424402, 424404, 424405, 424443, 424445, 424447, 424489, 424490, 424619, 424646, 424649, 514492, 514495, 514825, 514878, 514951, 514964
Abstract:
The invention relates to a method to induce apoptosis and to inhibit matrix metalloproteinases in a disease condition in a human or animal by contacting hyperplastic tissue, tumor tissue, or a cancerous lesion with one or more antimicrobial metals, preferably formed with atomic disorder, and preferably in a nanocrystalline form. In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of preventing excessive release of matrix metalloproteinases from an inflammatory cell in a disease condition in a human or an animal by contacting the cell with a therapeutically effective amount of a noble metal in a crystalline form characterized by atomic disorder, or with a solution derived therefrom to provide a modulatory effect on one or more matrix metalloproteinases, wherein the one or more noble metals is formed with atomic disorder, and preferably in a nanocrystalline form. The nanocrystalline antimicrobial or noble metal of choice may be used in the form of a nanocrystalline coating of one or more antimicrobial or noble metals, a nanocrystalline powder of one or more antimicrobial or noble metals, or a solution containing dissolved species from a nanocrystalline powder or coating of one or more antimicrobial or noble metals.