Novel patented therapeutic approaches targeting the 37/67 kDa laminin receptor for treatment of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Introduction: The 37/67 kDa high-affinity laminin receptor (laminin receptor precursor/laminin receptor, LRP/LR) is a multi-faceted cellular receptor. It plays a vital role in the malignancy of various cancer types where it is seen to contribute to invasion, adhesion, apoptosis evasion and angiogenesis. Furthermore, it has been found to play an important role in facilitating the processes leading to neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Various therapeutic options targeting this receptor have been patented with the outlook on application for the treatment/prevention of these diseases.

Areas covered: The various roles that LRP/LR plays in cancer, AD and infectious diseases caused by viruses and bacteria have been examined in detail and an overview of the current patented therapeutic strategies targeting this receptor is given.

Expert opinion: Molecular tools directed against LRP/LR, such as antibodies and small interfering RNA, could prove to be effective in the prevention of metastasis and angiogenesis while inducing apoptosis in cancers. Moreover, these strategies could also be applied to AD where LRP/LR is seen to facilitate the production and internalization of the neurotoxic Aβ peptide. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms by which LRP/LR is involved in eliciting pathogenic events, while showing how the use of patented approaches targeting this receptor could be used to treat them.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• angiogenesis
• antibody
• apoptosis
• cancer
• laminin receptor precursor/laminin receptor
• metastasis
• small interfering RNA
• therapy

Acknowledgements

This work is based upon research supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Republic of South Africa (RSA). The research from which this publication emanated was co-funded by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s), and therefore, the National Research Foundation does not accept any liability in this regard thereto. K Jovanovic and CJ Chetty contributed equally to this work.

Declaration of interest

The authors state no conflict of interest and have received no payment in preparation of this manuscript.

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