Conantokins: peptides with antiseizure and analgesic activity

This invention pertains to conantokins, a subset of peptides isolated from cone snail venom. Conantokins are selective NMDA receptor antagonists that hold promise as antiseizure and analgesic therapies with fewer side effects than currently available treatments.

Benefits
� Epilepsy, characterized by chronic recurrent seizure activity, affects 1 to 3% of the population in the United States.
� Currently available therapies antagonize the NMDA receptor, which is expressed as various receptor subtypes.
� Conantokin peptides differ from available pharmaceuticals in that they show greater specific for certain receptor subtypes associated with seizure activity and could form the basis for more effective antiseizure medications with fewer undesirable side effects.

Additional Info
� White, H.S. et al., (2000) J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 292:425-32
� Mortari, M.R. Et al, (2007) Pharmacol Ther, 114:171-83
� Klein, R.C. and Castellino, F.J. (1999) Neurosci Lett, 273:171-4
� Jimenez, E.C. (2002) Epilepsy Research, 51:73-80
� Olivera Lab Website, http://www.biology.utah.edu/faculty2.php?inum=7

Inventor(s): Lourdes Cruz, R. Tyler McCabe, Jean E.F. Rivier, Clark Colledge, Elsie Jimenez, Richard Layer, David Hillyard, Fe Abogadie, Li-Ming Zhou, Gregory Shen, Baldomero Olivera, Craig Walker, J. Michael McIntosh

Type of Offer: Licensing



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