Suppressing Proliferation of Melanoma Cells by Inhibiting NAD(P)H Oxidase from Producing Reactive Oxygen Species

The present invention provides a method for suppressing malignant melanoma proliferation by inhibiting NAD(P)H oxidase enzymes from generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). Malignant melanoma cells spontaneously generate ROS that promote constitutive activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), which in turn activates cell proliferation. This invention showed that melanoma proliferation was reduced by inhibiting the function of NAD(P)H oxidase and production of its ROS signaling products. It also showed that the generation of intracellular ROS in melanomas was inhibited by the flavoprotein inhibitor diphenylene iodonium by inhibiting constitutive DNA binding of nuclear protein to the NF-kB and cyclic-AMP response element (CRE) consensus sequences, without affecting DNA binding activity to transcription activator AP-1 or OCT-1

Benefits
This invention provides a method for treating patients with malignant melanoma, ischemia-reperfusion injury syndromes such as myocardial infarction and stroke, and asthma by disrupting the performance of NAD(P)H oxidase enzymes and production of its ROS signaling products.

Stage of Development
A patent (6,987,127) has been issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
This technology is available for licensing under either exclusive or non-exclusive terms.

Additional Info
*Brar SS, Kennedy TP, Sturrock AB, Huecksteadt TP, Quinn MT, Whorton AR, Hoidal JR. (2002) An NAD(P)H oxidase regulates growth and transcription in melanoma cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 282(6):C1212-24.

Inventor(s): Thomas Kennedy

Type of Offer: Licensing



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