Applications:
Activated protein C (APC), pro-drug, and/or a variant thereof may be used as an inhibitor of apoptosis or cell death and/or a cell survival factor, especially for stressed or injured cells or tissues of the nervous system including subjects with neurodegenerative disorders.
Advantages:
Novel biological functions (e.g., neuroprotection) can be independent or separated from inhibition of clotting or inflammation, and other biological properties of APC (e.g., antithrom-botic activity, ability to reduce NFB-regulated gene expression). It can be used in the treatment of disease or other pathological conditions by at least inhibiting the p53-dependent and/or caspase-3-dependent pro-apoptotic signaling path-ways in stressed or injured cells. Thus, APC, prodrugs, and variants thereof (e.g., APC protease domain mutants with reduced anti-coagulant activity) are prototypes of a class of agents for preventing apoptosis or cell death and/or promoting cell survival by direct action on brain cells. New protein C and/or APC variants with reduced anticoagulant activity may be selected thereby.