Apolipoprotein Mimetics in the Management of Human Disease

This comprehensive book provides not only the stages in the development of this unique and specialized field but also updates on the current state of research and development of apolipoprotein mimetics as therapeutic modalities for various lipid-mediated disorders. The book consists of 11 chapters all written by leading scientists from well-reputed laboratories in the USA. After an introduction by Dr. Godfrey Getz, Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and the Associate Editor of the Journal Lipid Research, the book presents a narration of how a theory can lead to the discovery of treatment modalities to several devastating diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis; asthma; atherosclerosis, chronic rejection of transplanted hearts and cancer.

Present therapies for most of these diseases are not adequate. Using the models of two long anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory proteins (apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein E with 243 and 299 amino acids, respectively) short mimetic peptides of 18 to 28 amino acid residues in length, which can be produced either synthetically or genetically in edible fruits and vegetables, have been shown to exert profound biological effects in a large number of animal models of diseases.

The book also presents novel ideas, highly unexpected mechanisms of action in animal models and even in initial clinical studies in humans, which can lead to additional improvements in basic and clinical research in biological science. All the chapters are written by experts in their respective fields who have contributed immensely to the literature. This is the first compendium of this growing field presented in the form of a book.

Dr. Anantharamaiah is Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he has served as a faculty member for the last 33 years. Dr. Ananth was involved in the initiation of this novel field of research. Over the years Dr. Ananth has been an author in more than 200 original publications and more than 30 patents, most of which are related to the studies of apolipoprotein mimetics. Dr. Ananth completed his Ph.D. degree in 1978 at Bangalore University. He received his postdoctoral training at The Ohio State University in Columbus in 1979. He is presently the Associate Director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit at the University of Alabama and the Director of the Peptide Laboratory.

Dr. Goldberg is President and Co-Founder of LipimetiX Development, LLC, a biotechnology company developing apolipoprotein E mimetic peptides licensed from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Research Foundation. Dr. Goldberg has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He previously led biology research at Pfizer's atherosclerosis drug discovery program, initiating their ACAT and CETP inhibitor programs. He was responsible for the discovery and development of RenaGel^® and WelChol^® at GelTex Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Goldberg holds a Ph.D. in Physiology and Biochemistry from Temple University and received post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Specialized Center of Research on Atherosclerosis, University of California, San Diego. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and has published extensively in basic and clinical sciences and is the inventor on 15 US patents.