KILLING CHEMOTHERAPY-RESISTANT CANCER CELLS AND RADIATION THERAPY RESISTANT CANCER CELLS USING CELL MEMBRANE-PORE FORMING PEPTIDES WHICH DO NOT KILL NORMAL CELLS

摘要

The present invention concerns methods of killing a cancer treatment resistant cancer cell in a mammal, including a human using a therapeutic dose of a pharmaceutical formulation comprising a cell membrane-pore forming peptides including PNC-27 and PNC-28. The method of using the cell membrane-pore forming peptides of the present invention is localized to the exterior surface of the cancer cell. The cancer cell membrane pore forming peptide comprises a first amino acid sequence attached at its carboxyl terminal end to an amino terminal end of a second amino acid sequence, wherein the first amino acid sequence can bind to an HDM-2 protein, and wherein the second amino acid sequence can function as a membrane resident peptide. Because the method of using the cell membrane-pore forming peptides of the present invention for the killing cancer treatment resistant cancer cell does not depend upon the obtaining of an intracellular concentration of the cancer cell membrane pore forming peptide in the cancer cell, the invention method is surprisingly unaffected by cancer treatment resistance mechanisms which render existing cancer treatment methods incompletely effective in eradicating cancer in the mammal or in the human subject.