The emerging role of targeted protein degradation to treat and study cancer

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Main Authors: Maximillian H Brodermann, Elizabeth K Henderson, Rob S Sellar
Format: Artículo Open Access
Published: Wiley 2024
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author Maximillian H Brodermann
Elizabeth K Henderson
Rob S Sellar
author_facet Maximillian H Brodermann
Elizabeth K Henderson
Rob S Sellar
Maximillian H Brodermann
Elizabeth K Henderson
Rob S Sellar
collection Wiley Open Access
contents The emerging role of targeted protein degradation to treat and study cancer Maximillian H Brodermann Elizabeth K Henderson Rob S Sellar The Journal of Pathology AbstractThe evolution of cancer treatment has provided increasingly targeted strategies both in the upfront and relapsed disease settings. Small‐molecule inhibitors and immunotherapy have risen to prominence with chimeric antigen receptor T‐cells, checkpoint inhibitors, kinase inhibitors, and monoclonal antibody therapies being deployed across a range of solid organ and haematological malignancies. However, novel approaches are required to target transcription factors and oncogenic fusion proteins that are central to cancer biology and have generally eluded successful drug development. Thalidomide analogues causing protein degradation have been a cornerstone of treatment in multiple myeloma, but a lack of in‐depth mechanistic understanding initially limited progress in the field. When the protein cereblon (CRBN) was found to mediate thalidomide analogues' action and CRBN's neo‐targets were identified, existing and novel drug development accelerated, with applications outside multiple myeloma, including non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndrome, and acute leukaemias. Critically, transcription factors were the first canonical targets described. In addition to broadening the application of protein‐degrading drugs, resistance mechanisms are being overcome and targeted protein degradation is widening the scope of druggable proteins against which existing approaches have been ineffective. Examples of targeted protein degraders include molecular glues and proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs): heterobifunctional molecules that bind to proteins of interest and cause proximity‐induced ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation via a linked E3 ligase. Twenty years since their inception, PROTACs have begun progressing through clinical trials, with early success in targeting the oestrogen receptor and androgen receptor in breast and prostate cancer respectively. This review explores important developments in targeted protein degradation to both treat and study cancer. It also considers the potential advantages and challenges in the translational aspects of developing new treatments. © 2024 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 10.1002/path.6301 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1002/path.6301
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institution Wiley Open Access
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spellingShingle The emerging role of targeted protein degradation to treat and study cancer
Maximillian H Brodermann
Elizabeth K Henderson
Rob S Sellar
The Journal of Pathology
The emerging role of targeted protein degradation to treat and study cancer Maximillian H Brodermann Elizabeth K Henderson Rob S Sellar The Journal of Pathology AbstractThe evolution of cancer treatment has provided increasingly targeted strategies both in the upfront and relapsed disease settings. Small‐molecule inhibitors and immunotherapy have risen to prominence with chimeric antigen receptor T‐cells, checkpoint inhibitors, kinase inhibitors, and monoclonal antibody therapies being deployed across a range of solid organ and haematological malignancies. However, novel approaches are required to target transcription factors and oncogenic fusion proteins that are central to cancer biology and have generally eluded successful drug development. Thalidomide analogues causing protein degradation have been a cornerstone of treatment in multiple myeloma, but a lack of in‐depth mechanistic understanding initially limited progress in the field. When the protein cereblon (CRBN) was found to mediate thalidomide analogues' action and CRBN's neo‐targets were identified, existing and novel drug development accelerated, with applications outside multiple myeloma, including non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndrome, and acute leukaemias. Critically, transcription factors were the first canonical targets described. In addition to broadening the application of protein‐degrading drugs, resistance mechanisms are being overcome and targeted protein degradation is widening the scope of druggable proteins against which existing approaches have been ineffective. Examples of targeted protein degraders include molecular glues and proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs): heterobifunctional molecules that bind to proteins of interest and cause proximity‐induced ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation via a linked E3 ligase. Twenty years since their inception, PROTACs have begun progressing through clinical trials, with early success in targeting the oestrogen receptor and androgen receptor in breast and prostate cancer respectively. This review explores important developments in targeted protein degradation to both treat and study cancer. It also considers the potential advantages and challenges in the translational aspects of developing new treatments. © 2024 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 10.1002/path.6301 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The emerging role of targeted protein degradation to treat and study cancer
topic The Journal of Pathology
url https://pathsocjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/path.6301