title: Protacs for treatment of cancer.
abstract: Protein degradation is the cell's mechanism of eliminating misfolded or unwanted proteins. The pathway by which proteins are degraded occurs through the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Ubiquitin is a small 9-kD (kDa) protein that is attached to proteins. A minimum of four ubiquitins are required for proteins to be recognized by the degradation machinery, known as the 26S proteasome. Defects in ubiquitination have been identified in a number of diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and metabolic disorders. We sought to exploit the delicate balance between protein synthesis and degradation to treat cancer by designing a chimeric molecule, known as Protac (Proteolysis Targeting Chimeric molecule). Protacs are heterobifunctional nanomolecules that are approximately 10 nm in size and can recruit proteins that cause cancer to the ubiquitin-proteasome machinery for degradation. In this review, we discuss the development of this novel technology for the treatment of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. kms@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine; D053758:Nanoparticles; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D054875:Ubiquitination
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex