Tocopherol associated protein and uses thereof

摘要

The present invention provides a novel tocopherol associated protein (TAP-38) DNA/protein with a 76 nucleotide base deletion resulting in a 25 amino acid deletion, followed by 90 novel nucleotides that code for 30 novel amino acids that are not expressed by TAP-46. The present invention provides data showing that TAP-38 enhances the apoptotic inducing properties of tocopherol based compounds, and blockage of TAP reduces the effectiveness of tocopherol based compounds. Thus, the present invention claim that expression of TAP-38 by tumor cells enhances the apoptotic inducing properties of tocopherol based compounds. The present invention provides aerosol liposome/transfection/infection methods for delivery of TAP-38 and TAP-46 cDNA plasmids separately and in combination with tocopherol based apoptotic inducing agents as well as with other chemotherapeutic agents as a method for treatment and prevention of cellular proliferative diseases and disorders.