Patent ID: 7700544

Claim:
An isolated peptide which enhances cholesterol ester hydrolase activity, said isolated peptide comprising a formula: X 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 X 9 X 10 X 11 X 12 X 13 X 14 X 15 X 16 X 17 X 18 (SEQ ID NO:29) wherein X 1 and X 9 , X 12 or X 18 are amino acids capable of forming a salt bridge; X 6 is lysine or an amino acid which is a conservative substitution thereof; X 2 , X 3 , X 4 , X 5 , X 7 , X 8 , X 10 , X 11 , X 13 , X 14 , X 15 , X 16 , and X 17 are independently any amino acid; and one or more amino acids of said formula is a D amino acid; wherein said isolated peptide exhibits at least 85% sequence identity to DQAANKWGRSGRDPNHFR (SEQ ID NO:26) calculated over the length of SEQ ID NO:26, notwithstanding any additional amino acids of said isolated peptide which may extend beyond the length of SEQ ID NO:26, and wherein the isolated peptide has less than 80 amino acid residues.