Method for treating fibrosis

Abstract

Materials and methods for treating fibrosis in a mammal are disclosed. The methods comprise administering to a mammal a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a zvegf3 antagonist in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable delivery vehicle. Zvegf3 antagonists include anti-zvegf3 antibodies, mitogenically inactive receptor-binding zvegf3 variant polypeptides, and inhibitory polynucleotides. Within one embodiment of the invention the fibrosis is liver fibrosis.

1 . A method of treating fibrosis in a mammal comprising administering to the mammal a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a zvegf3 antagonist in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable delivery vehicle, wherein the zvegf3 antagonist is selected from the group consisting of anti-zvegf3 antibodies, mitogenically inactive receptor-binding zvegf3 variant polypeptides, and inhibitory polynucleotides.  
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the fibrosis is liver fibrosis.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the fibrosis is kidney fibrosis.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the antagonist is an anti-zvegf3 antibody.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the antibody is a monoclonal antibody.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the antagonist is selected from the group consisting of antisense polynucleotides, ribozyme-encoding polynucleotides, and external guide sequence-encoding polynucleotides.