Berne: New dipeptides for effective inhibition of NMDA receptors

Licensing opportunity

Jean-Louis Reymond and team, from the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bern in Switzerland, are looking to license dipeptides that can help treat patients with stroke, epilepsy, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease. These peptides act by blocking the glycine site of the N-Methyl-D-Aspartic Acid receptors (NMDAR).

Reymond’s dipeptides inhibit the receptor function of NMDARs by directly competing with glycine at the NDMA binding site. These inhibitors were identified by virtual screening of a chemical universe database. Radio-ligand binding assays and functionality tests in NMDARs expressed in Xenopus eggs demonstrated their inhibitory function.

These techniques, as well as electrophysiological functionality studies, have allowed the identification of additional structures with increased binding affinity to the NMDA glycine binding site.

http://www.dcb.unibe.ch/groups/reymond/