Introduction:
An international research team, including experts from IRB Barcelona, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, and BC Cancer, discovered a potential method to target the androgen receptor, a significant factor in prostate cancer, through its tendency to form droplets known as condensates. These findings, detailed in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, laid the groundwork for Nuage Therapeutics S.L., a biotech venture aiming to develop treatments targeting these challenging proteins.
- The team explored the intrinsically disordered proteins’ tendency to form condensates and identified sequences essential for phase separation, which also play a role in gene activation.
- They developed an experimental inhibitor that showed a tenfold increase in efficacy against aggressive prostate cancer in cell and mouse models.
- Further research is needed to translate these findings into viable therapies.
- The team hopes their discoveries will pave the way to target other transcription factors in various diseases.
- The work forms the basis for Nuage Therapeutics’ pursuit of new treatments for complex diseases by targeting proteins undergoing biomolecular condensation.
Conclusion:
The research team’s discovery of a potential method to target the androgen receptor in prostate cancer through protein droplets offers new possibilities for developing treatments. By understanding the sequences essential for phase separation and gene activation, an experimental inhibitor with increased efficacy against aggressive prostate cancer was developed. Further research will be necessary to bring this method to a clinical setting, but the findings also hold potential for targeting other transcription factors in different diseases. These findings provide a basis for the development of new treatments for complex diseases by targeting proteins undergoing biomolecular condensation.
