Unmet Need:
According to the CDC, each year approximately 1.6-million individuals will be diagnosed with cancer and an estimated 600,000 people will succumb to the disease in the United States alone (see CDC). Treatment of cancer is based on tissue type as well as the stage in which the cancer is diagnosed. Most therapies include cytotoxic agents with or without surgery. Despite these available treatment avenues, many cancers inevitably develop resistance to therapy leaving patients with fewer alternative options. A deeper understanding in the biological machinery of cancers may provide the basis for the identification and development of new therapies. Therefore, there is a strong need to leverage new aspects of cancer biology for the development of effective therapies that may benefit patients with cancer.
Technology Overview:
Johns Hopkins researchers have identified new inhibitors of ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) using an in vitro selection from a library of cyclic peptides. USP22 has been shown to be overexpressed in a number of cancers that are resistant to available therapies. These new inhibitors of USP22 have the potential to treat cancers for which there are no current treatments available as well as cancers that have developed therapeutic resistance. These are the first reported inhibitors of USP22.
Stage of Development:
Experimental data available with chemical optimization and pre-clinical animal studies pending.
Publication:
Morgan M, et al. Cell Chem Biol S2451-9456(21)00518-3, 2021
