Article written by Mark Locklear
First published in the spring 2021 edition of UNCP Today
Since arriving on campus in 2009, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Professor Ben Bahr and his team at UNCP’s Biotechnology Research and Training Center have been working to uncover new treatment methods for Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
As a result of their studies, UNCP was recently awarded a U.S. Patent for compounds and compound combinations that hopefully will be used one day to alleviate Alzheimer’s and TBI. It is the first patent in the university’s history.
“This patent is yet another milestone that recognizes the cutting-edge research Dr. Bahr is conducting in his laboratory on these diseases that rob us of our very essence of who we are as people,” said Chancellor Robin Gary Cummings.
“This is transformative research with farreaching implications for the future relief of human suffering.” Dr. Bahr previously discovered a compound that was shown to clear accumulations of protein material in the brain that cause memory loss and contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
“The patent covers previous compounds, new derivatives and unique combinations that tap into the rapidly growing field of natural products for brain health. We are probably the first to show how you can combine them to be able to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s disease and ALS,” Bahr said.
“And very importantly, the U.S. Patent Office allowed us to include the treatment of mild cognitive impairment. The MCI disorder, which we tested in animal models, is often considered pre-Alzheimer’s disease and where you really want to start treating early dementia symptoms before Alzheimer’s disease slowly becomes established in the brain.”
Much is known about Alzheimer’s disease, but the underlying cause of the disease that affects nearly 6 million Americans remains obscure. This makes it more difficult to find therapies capable of slowing and reversing the progression of Alzheimer’s.
Bahr hopes the new patent will open the doors for UNCP to work with some of the state’s major pharmaceutical companies. It’s going to take investments to get the treatment method to the clinical trial phase.
Awarded last August, the new patent covers traumatic brain injuries because these types of injuries accumulate similar toxic protein deposits as Alzheimer’s. Bahr’s research has led him to identify a unique class of cathepsin B-enhancing compounds, cathepsin B being an enzyme that can degrade and clear the nerve-damaging deposits found in both Alzheimer’s and TBI.
“As it turns out, both football players and military individuals too often develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and that has the telltale images of the kind of protein deposits that occur in Alzheimer’s disease.”
The patent also includes compounds from patents awarded to Bahr and another medicinal chemistry professor, Dr. Dennis Wright, while Bahr was on the faculty at the University of Connecticut, prior to coming to UNCP.
Dr. Todd Cohen, associate professor at the Neuroscience Center at UNC Chapel Hill, has interacted extensively with Bahr, exchanging reagents and brainstorming ideas.
“By improving the health of neurons, we may be able to improve synaptic function and restore cognition to those in the military that suffer from blast injuries, as well as other people that undergo single or multiple brain traumas, since both conditions affect the tau protein that forms deposits in the brain.
“His team’s work should provide major new insight into these conditions and help guide therapeutic development in the coming years to treat these patients with effective new drugs,” Cohen said.
