Scientists move closer to better pancreatic cancer treatments
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Last year, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, developed a novel “molecular crowbar” strategy to degrade the oncogenic enzyme Pin1, a protein that is overexpressed in many tumors including pancreatic cancer. They designed compounds that bind to Pin1 and destabilize its structure, causing its cellular degradation.
This approach not only targets cancer cells directly but also addresses tumor-supporting cells like cancer-associated fibroblasts and macrophages where Pin1 is active, potentially overcoming the treatment resistance posed by the fibrous tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer.
The UCR team led ...