Novel Compounds for Treatment of Neurodegenerative Conditions and Diseases
Overview Stroke and other neurological insults entail a build-up of waste materials in brain cells. One of the most common waste materials is glutamate, which is present in more than 50 percent of nervous tissue. Glutamate receptors are critical to neuronal functioning. Failure to regulate these receptors contributes to various neurological disorders and to neurodegeneration diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. PDZ domains, amino acid chains which play a key role in signaling proteins, are an effective target for controlling glutamate receptors. Our invention is a reversible inhibitor of at least one neuron-specific PDZ domain.
Market Opportunity Neurological trauma and disease, even when not fatal, can greatly affect quality of life. Clinicians often lack effective therapeutics both for treating the immediate problem and for preventing further neuronal damage.
Innovation and Meaningful Advantages Treatment with our invention, which may include long-term, short-term, or intermittent regimens, would be envisioned as effective when administered promptly upon neurological insult. Treatment could also be administered in advance of neuro-stress, such as prior to a surgical procedure that invades the brain, or as a therapeutic intervention against further neuronal damage from neuro-stress.
This technology uses polymers of amino acid residues in which one or more amino acid residue is an artificial chemical that mimics the corresponding naturally occurring amino acid, as well as naturally occurring amino acid polymers and non-naturally occurring amino acid polymers. Our invention can be formed from any amino acids, offering great variability in size and side-chain availability.
Collaboration Opportunity We are interested in exploring 1) startup opportunities with investors in the drug delivery space; 2) research collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies to develop this treatment; and 3) licensing opportunities for neuro-focused therapeutic companies.
Principal Investigator John Marshall, PhD Professor of Medical Science Brown University Brown Tech ID #1939J john_marshall@brown.edu https://vivo.brown.edu/display/jomarsha
Contact Neil Veloso Executive Director, Brown Technology Innovations Neil_Veloso@brown.edu
IP Information 2018-08-14 US10046024B2; published.
Publications LeBlanc BW, Iwata M, Mallon AP, Rupasinghe CN, Goebel DJ, Marshall J, Spaller MR, Saab CY. A cyclic peptide targeted against PSD-95 blocks central sensitization and attenuates thermal hyperalgesia. Neuroscience. 2010 May 5;167(2):490-500. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2849898.
Piserchio A, Salinas GD, Li T, Marshall J, Spaller MR, Mierke DF. Targeting specific PDZ domains of PSD-95; structural basis for enhanced affinity and enzymatic stability of a cyclic peptide. Chem Biol. 2004 Apr;11(4):469-73. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2004.03.013.