Copper chelation therapeutics
OwnerDavid Gordon Bermudesinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Bacterial strains are provided having at least one enhanced mechanism to sequester, bind, precipitate, chemically oxidize or reduce copper ions or other toxic divalent transition metals. The bacteria may also have optional copper resistance mechanisms. The bacteria reduce the amount of available copper to tissues, which may be cancerous tissues, and reduce tumor growth, angiogenesis and/or metastasis, or tissues subject to excess copper due to host defects in copper metabolism. The bacteria are useful for treatment of neoplastic diseases including solid tumors and lymphomas, as well as Wilson's Disease, Menke's Disease, and possible Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease.
Claims20
A method of treating a patient having an excess of one or more transition metals in a tissue, by reducing the amount of the transition metal(s) in the tissue, comprising:
- (a) administering a non-pathogenic live bacterium to the patient, the non-pathogenic live bacterium being genetically engineered to express and secrete a heterologous transition metal binding protein which sequesters transition metals in an environment surrounding the non-pathogenic live bacterium;
- (b) colonizing an enteric tissue of the patient with the non-pathogenic live bacterium;
- and
- (c) effectively reducing the availability of the transition metal(s) from dietary sources to the patient by the secretion of the heterologous transition metal binding protein and subsequent sequestration of the transition metal(s), to thereby treat the excess of transition metal(s) in the patient.
A method of treating a transition metal excess disease in a patient, comprising:
- administering a live replication competent genetically engineered bacterium in a pharmaceutically acceptable unit dose formulation, the bacterium having at least one heterologous copper binding protein gene which results in expression and secretion of a copper binding protein, the live genetically engineered bacterium being capable of reducing copper availability in its environment, the live genetically engineered bacterium being a probiotic bacterium adapted to replicate in an enteric organ of a human;
- and
- reducing copper levels in the patient by permitting the bacterium to express and secrete the copper binding protein after administration.
A method of treating excess transition metal disease in a patient in need thereof, comprising:
- (a) administering to the patient a sufficient amount of a composition comprising a live, replication competent genetically engineered bacterium in a pharmaceutically acceptable unit dose formulation, the live, replication competent genetically engineered bacterium comprising at least one heterologous transition metal binding protein gene which causes the live, replication competent genetically engineered bacterium to express and secrete at least one transition metal binding protein which is capable of reducing the amount of copper external to the live, replication competent genetically engineered bacterium;
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- (b) permitting the live, replication competent genetically engineered bacterium to replicate in the patient and secrete the at least one heterologous transition metal binding protein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.