Patent ID: 7402560

Claim:
A compound which is (1) a peptide, consisting of not more than 12 amino acid residues, and comprising the sequence (Xaa + )-(Xaa)-(Xaa)-(Xaa) m -(Xaa + )-(Xaa)-(Xaa − ) n -(Xaa h )-(Xaa) o -(Xaa h ) p or (2) a multimer consisting essentially of two or more peptides according to (1) above, which peptides may be the same or different, wherein Xaa + is a basic amino acid residue, Xaa − is an acidic amino acid residue, Xaa h is an apolar amino acid residue, Xaa is any amino acid residue, and m, n, o, and p are independently 0 or 1, said compound being capable of binding to the NCAM Ig1 or Ig2 domains and of stimulating or promoting neurite outgrowth from or proliferation of NCAM presenting cells.