BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBLI - News) today announced the publication in ScienceMagazine of the first structural and biophysical study of the Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5)-flagellin interaction. These results help to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying TLR5 recognition and signaling by CBLB502. The study's co-authors include Sung-il Yoon, The Scripps Research Institute; Oleg Kurnasov, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute; Venkatesh Natarajan, Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Minsun Hong, The Scripps Research Institute; Andrei V. Gudkov, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Cleveland BioLabs, Inc.; Andrei L. Osterman, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute; and Ian A. Wilson, The Scripps Research Institute.
Andrei Gudkov, Ph.D., D.Sci., Chief Scientific Officer of Cleveland BioLabs, Senior Vice President of Basic Science at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and a co-author of the paper, commented: "The publication elucidates details of three-dimensional interactions between TLR5 and flagellin and provides a breakthrough in identifying the fine molecular mechanism of specific interactions between CBLB502 (a pharmacologically optimized derivative of bacterial flagellin) and its cognate receptor, TLR5, expressed on the surface of target human cells. This interaction is critical to a sequence of downstream signaling events driving CBLB502's multifaceted mechanism of action, including its activation of innate immune response. This new insight adds to our knowledge of CBLB502's mechanism of action and will help us immensely in making progress with our development of CBLB502 as both a radiation countermeasure and a cancer therapeutic agent."
Yakov Kogan, PhD, interim Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland BioLabs, commented: "Selection of this work for publication in this highly prestigious journal indicates the significance of the findings, the complexity of the structural problem solved and confirms that our team continues to work at the very forefront of one of the most important and competitive areas in contemporary biologic research. The recent award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Bruce Beutler and Jules Hoffmann for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity underscores the timeliness, the relevance and the importance of this research."
A new patent application has been filed by Cleveland BioLabs together with The Scripps Research Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and Roswell Park Cancer Institute to protect potentially valuable intellectual property emanating from practical applications of the published findings.
This research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research, and Cleveland BioLabs, Inc.
About Cleveland BioLabs, Inc.
Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging deep mechanistic understanding of the cell death process, apoptosis, to develop a robust pipeline of nine compounds primarily focused on oncology applications and mitigation of radiation injury. The Company's lead compound is being developed as both a radiation countermeasure and a direct acting anticancer agent. The Company has two subsidiaries, Incuron, LLC and Pancela Labs, Inc., and strategic relationships with the Cleveland Clinic, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. To learn more about Cleveland BioLabs, Inc., please visit the Company's website at http://www.cbiolabs.com.
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