Download Customizable Antimicrobial Peptides Case # 1210 Overview Technology Contact

Customizable Antimicrobial Peptides
Case # 1210
Technology Contact
Overview
A. Carlyle Rogers, PhD
Phone: 252-737-1648
Email: [email protected]
Hospital acquired infections affect 1.7 million patients per year (CDC). An estimated 50–
60% of all hospital-acquired infections are caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria
resulting in an estimated cost of $22.3 million. Despite obvious risk, little advancement of
new antibiotics has occurred.
Technology
Patent Portfolio
PCT/US2014/062442
Dr. Rickey Hicks and East Carolina University have developed a platform of novel
synthetic antimicrobial peptides customized to treat a wide variety of bacterial, fungal
and/or viral infections. This novel method alters the physicochemical properties of
antimicrobial peptides to increase selectivity and potency against multiple drug resistant
organisms such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Klebsiella
pnemoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To accomplish alteration of the peptide's
properties, un-natural amino acids are integrated into different locations in the structure
of the peptide providing a conformational flexibility that is dependent on the organisms
membrane. Ability to the peptides flexibility allows these novel antimicrobial peptides to
target a wide variety of organisms and make it inherently difficult for the targeted
organisms to develop resistance.
Uses and Advantages
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Customizable to target a wide variety of organisms, including multiple drug resistant
organisms
Decreased susceptibility to develop resistance
High selectivity and potency towards prokaryotes
Few options exist on the market to treat drug resistant strains of microorganisms.
Therapeutic value as a cancer treatment
Selected Publications
Russell AL, Williams BC, Spuches A, Klapper D, Srouji AH, Hicks RP. (2012). The effect of
the length and flexibility of the side chain of basic amino acids on the binding of
antimicrobial peptides to zwitterionic and anionic membrane model systems. Bioorganic
and Medicinal Chemistry, Mar 1;20(5):1723-39. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2012.01.015. PMID:
22304850
Russell AL and Hicks RP. (2012). Application of unnatural amino acids to the de novo
design of selective antibiotic peptides. Methods in Molecular Biology, 794:135-67. doi:
10.1007/978-1-61779-331-8_9. PMID: 21956561
Inventor Profiles
Dr. Rickey Hicks, former Chair and Professor in the Department of Chemistry at East
Carolina University, now serves as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at
Georgia Regents University. With experience in academic, industrial and government
settings, Dr. Hicks research focuses on developing customizable synthetic antimicrobial
peptides that can be used to combat multiple drug resistant organisms. Dr. Hicks
currently holds five patents and served as Chief of the Department of Medicinal
Chemistry at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.