Modulators of amyloid aggregation

US6319498A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Praecis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Mark A. Findeis · Belmont, US
• Howard Benjamin · Lexington, US
• Marc B. Garnick · Brookline, US
• Malcolm L. Gefter · Lincoln, US
• Arvind Hundal · Watertown, US
• Laura Kasman · Athens, US
• Gary Musso · Hopkinton, US
• Ethan R. Signer · Cambridge, US
• James Wakefield · Brookline, US
• Michael John Reed · London, GB

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 14, 1996
• Grant date: Nov 20, 2001
• Expiry date: Mar 14, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61K38/00
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Compounds that modulate the aggregation of amyloidogenic proteins or peptides are disclosed. The modulators of the invention can promote amyloid aggregation or, more preferably, can inhibit natural amyloid aggregation. In a preferred embodiment, the compounds modulate the aggregation of natural .beta. amyloid peptides (.beta.-AP). In a preferred embodiment, the .beta. amyloid modulator compounds of the invention are comprised of an A.beta. aggregation core domain and a modifying group coupled thereto such that the compound alters the aggregation or inhibits the neurotoxicity of natural .beta. amyloid peptides when contacted with the peptides. Furthermore, the modulators are capable of altering natural .beta.-AP aggregation when the natural .beta.-APs are in a molar excess amount relative to the modulators. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of the invention, and diagnostic and treatment methods for amyloidogenic diseases using the compounds of the invention, are also disclosed.