INSECTICIDES THAT TARGET PROTEIN KINASE A (PKA)

• US 20090196864A1
• Filed: 10/20/2006
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (University of Texas System)
• Original Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (University of Texas System)
• Inventors: Bulla, Lee A.
• Application Number:
  US12/090,813
• Publication Number:
  US 20090196864A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 424/94.5
• CPC Class Codes: A01N 25/00 Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators, characterised by their forms, or by their non-active ingredients or by their methods of application , e.g. seed treatment or sequential application; Substances for reducing the noxious effect of the active ingredients to organisms other than pests
• CPC Class Codes: A01N 63/23 B. thuringiensis
• CPC Class Codes: A01N 63/50 Isolated enzymes; Isolated proteins peptides A01N37/46

Abstract

The insecticides of the invention target the downstream portions of the signaling sequence of B. thuringiensis toxin, specifically protein kinase A (PKA) or adenylate cyclase (AC).

Claims

1. A method to exert a cytotoxic effect on insect cells which method comprises contacting said cells with at least one substance that effects the activation of protein kinase A (PKA) or adenylate cyclase (AC).

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the insect cells are susceptible to the cytotoxic action of B. thuringiensis toxin.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the cells are contained in an intact insect.

4. A composition comprising an effective amount of an active ingredient toxic to insect cells, wherein said active ingredient is an activator of PKA or AC.

5. A method to identify a compound or protocol that is effective as an insecticide, which method comprises assessing the ability of a substance or protocol to activate PKA or AC, wherein a substance or protocol that activates PKA or AC is identified as a candidate insecticide.