TY - JOUR T1 - TrkAd5: A Novel Therapeutic Agent for Treatment of Inflammatory Pain and Asthma JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 1122 LP - 1129 DO - 10.1124/jpet.105.095844 VL - 316 IS - 3 AU - Judy J. Watson AU - Mark S. Fahey AU - Edwin van den Worm AU - Ferdi Engels AU - Frans P. Nijkamp AU - Paul Stroemer AU - Steve McMahon AU - Shelley J. Allen AU - David Dawbarn Y1 - 2006/03/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/316/3/1122.abstract N2 - Elevated levels of nerve growth factor have been linked to the onset and persistence of many pain-related disorders and asthma. Described here are the design, expression, refolding, and purification of a monomeric (nonstrand-swapped) form of the binding domain of the nerve growth factor receptor, designated TrkAd5. We have shown that TrkAd5 produced recombinantly binds nerve growth factor with picomolar affinity. TrkAd5 has been characterized using a variety of biophysical and biochemical assays and is shown here to be stable in both plasma and urine. The palliative effects of TrkAd5 are demonstrated in animal models of inflammatory pain and allergic asthma. We conclude that TrkAd5 will prove effective in ameliorating both acute and chronic conditions where nerve growth factor acts as a mediator and suggest a role for its application in vivo as a novel therapeutic. ER -