Prostate Specific Membrane (PSMA)-binding Peptides Useful for Targeted Therapy for Cancer

Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) is a glutamate carboxypeptidase II that is expressed by normal prostate epithelium and is even more highly expressed by a large proportion of prostate cancers and other tumor types. As PSMA is not expressed in the normal endothelium of non-prostate tissues, it represents an attractive candidate for selectively targeting therapies to prostate cancer and/or other solid tumors. JHU scientists have now identified a specific peptide that binds selectively to recombinant soluble PSMA. By engineering the peptide to generate a novel fluorescently labeled dimeric peptide, they were able to demonstrate its selective binding to PSMA-producing prostate cancer cells in vitro with no significant binding to non PSMA-producing cells. Description (Set) Proposed Use (Set) Given the increasingly older population, and the fact that 75% percent of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men over age 65, the market for prostate therapeutics is expected to have a sustained annual growth of more than 3.4% until 2015. The novel invention by Denmeade and Aggarwal would be highly attractive in this market as it can be used as a diagnostic test or as a vehicle for therapeutic delivery. The PSMA-targeted peptide has other advantages over existing technologies such as relatively inexpensive production, low immunogenicity, high stability, and good target specificity for tumor tissue allowing the use of highly toxic chemotherapeutics.

Inventor(s): Denmeade, Samuel

Type of Offer: Licensing



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