Patent ID: 7691965

Claim:
An isolated peptide that has a cholesterol efflux mediating activity and an ABCA stabilization activity, comprising an amphipathic alpha helix of 18-60 amino acids in length comprising an engineered helical segment, said engineered helical segment comprising: a polar face and a nonpolar face, wherein the polar face comprises an alignment of at least 3 acidic amino acids, wherein each of the at least 3 acidic amino acids is positioned at 2-3 helical turns from one another along the long-axis of the helix; and had the following characteristics in comparison to a helical segment of a native protein: (a) said engineered helical segment comprises from 1 to 3 amino acid substitutions compared with the sequence of the helical segment of the native protein, and at least one of the substitutions creates the alignment of at least 3 acidic amino acids; or (b) said helical segment comprises from 1 to 3 amino acid substitutions compared with the helical segment of the native protein and a deletion of 1 to 4 amino acid residues compared with the sequence of the helical segment of the native protein where the deletion creates the alignment of at least 3 acidic amino acids; and said native protein is selected from the group consisting of human Apo A-I, human Apo A-II, human Apo A-IV, human Apo E, human Apo C-I, human Apo C-II, human Apo C-III, and human serum amyloid.