Novel Peptide for Treatment of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia

Description:

Project ID: D2009-47

Novelty: Use of a novel cyclic peptide L1AD3 as an injectable solution in the treatment of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH).

Value proposition: The adverse effects and morbidities associated with the treatment options for BPH has led to the investigation into a number of minimally invasive alternatives such as utilization of intra-prostatic injection of toxin botulinum toxin type A (botox). However, there remains a need in the art for new, less toxic and improved treatments for treating unwanted cellular elements. The disclosed invention embodies a beta-sheet cyclic peptide that can be injected directly into the male prostate to cause involution of the prostate as a result of glandular and stromal cell death. The other major advantages of this technology are:

· More effective than conventional treatments such as TransUrethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) and TransUrethral Needle Ablation (TUNA).

· Treatment is less invasive than current procedures.

· May completely eliminate the need for surgery.

Invention Description: Dr. Steven Selman and Dr. Channing Hinman at The University of Toledo have developed a method of treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Specifically, they used a small 14-mer cyclic peptide L1AD3, identical to N-terminal 14 amino acids in cytotoxin III (CTX) of Taiwan cobra Naja naja atra, for the purpose. The researchers demonstrated that administration of this synthetic peptide can cause atrophy/death of the stroma and glandular elements of the rat ventral prostate similar to atrophy caused by Botulinum toxin with a resultant decrease in the bulk of prostatic lobes. This resulted in a decrease in size of the injected prostatic lobe. No significant complications (i.e. weight loss, urinary retention, or limb weakness) were noted. Method is less invasive than current procedures--in many cases, completely eliminates the need for surgery.

L1AD3 is a synthetic peptide representing Loop-1 of Cobra cardiotoxin (CTx) that has no heart toxicity, but has shown similar cytotoxicity capabilities in vitro on several cell lines including human and rat prostate cancer cell lines and human leukemic T-lymphocytes.