Chinese researchers develop technology for protein degradation against cancer

A team of researchers from China has developed a new technology that allows the degradation of specific proteins in living organisms to be regulated with high precision, an advance that could promote the development of innovative treatments for diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

The study presents a strategy capable of selectively eliminating proteins associated with diseases, with spatial and temporal control in vivo, a key limitation of existing technologies in this field.

Proteins play a fundamental role in the regulation and functioning of the body. However, when their expression or activity is abnormal, they can trigger various pathologies. Conventional treatments based on small molecules usually act by inhibiting the function of proteins by binding to their active sites, but many disease-related proteins lack adequate structures for this type of drug, reducing the effectiveness of these therapies.

This technology takes advantage of the cell's own ubiquitin-proteasome (SUP) system to bring the target protein closer to the machinery responsible for its degradation, thus allowing its selective elimination.

“Existing strategies for targeted protein degradation often lack precise control over when and where they act, limiting their effectiveness in vivo and increasing the risk of off-target effects,” explained Wang Ming,.

The experiments demonstrated that SupTACs achieve stable and efficient protein degradation in different animal models, including primates. According to Wang, these results constitute an important step towards the clinical application of targeted protein degradation technologies.