Novel chimeric heteromultimer adhesins that bind the ligand of natural
heteromultimeric receptors and uses therefor are disclosed. The chimeric
molecules of the heteromultimer adhesins comprise an extracellular domain
of a heteromultimeric receptor monomer and a multimerization domain for
the stable interaction of the chimeric molecules in the adhesin.
Specifically disclosed are heteromultimeric adhesins comprising the
extracellular domains of ErbB2 and ErbB3 or ErbB2 and ErbB4. The chimeric
ErbB heteromultimer adhesins of the present invention are useful as
competitive antagonists or agonists of a neuregulin for the treatment of
diseases such as various cancers.