Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 107, Issue 11, Pages 5112-5117Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0915141107
Keywords
peptide; cancer; VEGFR; angiogenesis; retinopathy of prematurity
Categories
Funding
- Department of Defense (DOD)
- National Institutes of Health
- Gillson-Longenbaugh Foundation
- Marcus Foundation
- AngelWorks
- Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Inhibition of blood vessel formation is a viable therapeutic approach in angiogenesis-dependent diseases. We previously used a combinatorial screening on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)activated endothelial cells to select the sequence CPQPRPLC and showed that the motif Arg-Pro-Leu targets VEGF receptor-1 and neuropilin-1. Here, we evaluated and validated (D)(LPR), a derivative molecule with strong antiangiogenesis attributes. This prototype drug markedly inhibits neovascularization in three mouse models: Matrigel-based assay, functional human/murine blood vessel formation, and retinopathy of prematurity. In addition to its systemic activity, (D)(LPR) also inhibits retinal angiogenesis when administered in an eye-drop formulation. Finally, in preliminary studies, we have showed targeted drug activity in an experimental tumor-bearing mouse model. These results show that drugs targeting extracellular domains of VEGF receptors are active, affect signal transduction, and have potential for clinical application. On a larger context, this study illustrates the power of ligand-directed selection plus retro-inversion for rapid drug discovery and development.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available