Development of a new drug for endometrial carcinoma targeting cycylin A

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25293340
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Obstetrics and gynecology
• Research Institution: Shinshu University
• Principal Investigator: SHIOZAWA Tanri 信州大学, 学術研究院医学系, 教授 (20235493)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SUZUKI Akihisa 信州大学, 医学部附属病院, 特任研究員 (10547095) ; ASAKA Ryoichi 信州大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (00623688) ; ANDO Hirofumi 信州大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (80722925)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 子宮内膜癌 / サイクリンA / 分子標的薬 / 低分子化合物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Since the number of endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients is sharply increasing in Japan, development of new therapeutic strategies is mandatory. We previously found the increased expression of cyclin A, a cell-cycle regulatory molecule, to be correlated with poor prognosis of EC patients. Therefore, we considered cyclin A to be a important therapeutic target. After screening of a library containing more than 10,000 low molecular weight compound, we found that a molecule with 300 Da (termed “X” ) had strongly suppressed the transcription of cyclin A and growth of EC xenografts on mice, suggesting “X” to be a promising lead compound. In order to improve the function of “X”, we examined the working mechanism of “X”, and found X to bind to a transcriptional factor, prohibitin. Thus, prohibitin-oriented structural modification seems to pave the way for a new drug development.

Free Research Field

婦人科腫瘍学