Method and reagent for treatment of diseases caused by expression of the c-myc gene

Abstract

The present invention relates to an enzymatic RNA molecule which cleaves mRNA derived from c-myc gene.

1 . An enzymatic RNA molecule which cleaves RNA derived from c-myc gene, wherein said enzymatic nucleic acid molecule comprises one or more chemical modifications.  
     
     
         2 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule is in a hammerhead (HH) motif.  
     
     
         3 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule is in a hairpin, hepatitis Delta virus, group I intron, VS nucleic acid, or RNAse P nucleic acid motif.  
     
     
         4 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule comprises at least one 2′-sugar modification.  
     
     
         5 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 4 , wherein said 2′ sugar modification comprises a 2′-O-methyl modification.  
     
     
         6 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule comprises at least one nucleic acid base modification.  
     
     
         7 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule comprises at least one phosphate backbone modification.  
     
     
         8 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 7 , wherein said phosphate backbone modification comprises a phosphorothioate modification.  
     
     
         9 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule comprises a 5′ end modification.  
     
     
         10 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule comprises a 3′ end modification.  
     
     
         11 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic RNA molecule comprises a cap structure at the 5′-end, or 3′-end, or both the 5′-end and the 3′-end.  
     
     
         12 . A mammalian cell comprising the enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         13 . The mammalian cell of  claim 12 , wherein said cell is a human cell.  
     
     
         14 . An expression vector comprising nucleic acid encoding one or more enzymatic RNA molecules which cleave RNA derived from c-myc gene in a manner which allows expression of the enzymatic RNA molecule(s) within a mammalian cell.  
     
     
         15 . A mammalian cell comprising the expression vector of  claim 14 .  
     
     
         16 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 1 , wherein said enzymatic nucleic acid comprises between 5 and 23 bases complementary to said RNA derived from c-myc gene.  
     
     
         17 . The enzymatic RNA molecule of  claim 16 , wherein said enzymatic nucleic acid comprises between 10 and 18 bases complementary to said RNA derived from c-myc gene.