Enhancement of Antimicrobial Peptide Activity by Metal Ions
Project Leaders: Carl H. Lawyer and Kounosuke Watabe
Unit: Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Springfield
Brief Description:
The inventors designed artificial peptide molecules from 11 to 35 amino acids long, each with a tryptophan triplet, which have antimicrobial activity. In the course of this research, they also discovered that certain metal ions improve the performance of these peptides as well as natural antimicrobial peptides. These discoveries have wide-ranging potential in the treatment of human infection, particularly in respiratory illnesses where natural antimicrobial peptides have been shown to be active.
Patent Status:
U.S. Patent No. 6,042,848, issued Mar. 28, 2000.
Potential Commercial Uses:
The University is seeking industrial partners to further develop and test this technology in improving antibiotic therapies.
Contact:
Rob Patino, SIU School of Medicine Office of Technology Transfer, (217) 545-8167, fax: (217) 545-0786