UIC-2008-008 – Novel Peptide Inhibitors of Protein Synthesis, Methods of Identifying and Their Use

This invention is the discovery of peptides that inhibit protein synthesis. The target site on the ribosome is one that is not currently targeted by any known antibiotics and is crucial for protein synthesis. The peptides are effective on both prokaryotes and in higher organisms (eukaryotes). Because of the invention’s application in higher organisms it may be useful not only in developing antibiotics, but also in developing anticancer drugs. Additionally, the novel peptides exhibit synergy with other existing antibiotics; accordingly linking the peptides with existing antibiotics will lead to the production of more potent antibiotics and novel combination therapies. Some peptides displayed the characteristic of increasing protein synthesis – useful to enhance the yield of protein synthesis in cases where the efficiency of synthesis is poor. A protocol was also developed to screen libraries of peptides against RNA targets as well as a method for the monitoring of ligand binding to the whole ribosome by tagging a protein with a flourophore at a specific position. Nelson Grihalde grihalde@otm.uic.edu 312-996-4129