CaR receptor as a mediator of migratory cell chemotaxis and/or chemokinesis

Patent Number: 7,176,243

The area of stem cell mobilization is very exciting not only from the perspective of allowing for efficient harvest of peripheral blood stem cells, but also from the perspective of one day being able to mobilize endogenous stem cells to accelerate healing of various organs. In this patent a novel method of inducing mobilization of stem cells from the bone marrow, as well as inhibiting migration of inflammatory cells to areas associated with inflammation is disclosed.

The inventors discovered that hematopoietic stem cells, as well as various other cells associated with inflammation sense extracellular calcium through the calcium-sensing receptor (CAR) which belongs to the seven-transmembrane-spanning protein family. The inventors also found that bone marrow cells generally home to the endosteal niche in the bone marrow by virtue of a calcium signal dependent on CAR expression on the stem cells.

In the current patent the inventors cover various compositions of matter that antagonize the CAR receptor. These compositions are useful not only for inducing bone marrow stem cell mobilization but also inhibiting migration of cells to area of inflammation which are associated with various calcium gradients. This does ask the question, however, if chelation therapy would have similar effects based on calcium modification.

View this patent on the USPTO website.