protein degradation

PROTAC Virus Vaccines: A New Approach to Vaccine Development

Posted on by Michele Arduengo

Vaccine research and development is a major area of focus for life scientists across the globe. Clinical trials have shown that vaccines that target tumors show promise for cancer treatment. Additionally, the emergence of new zoonotic diseases has revealed a need to develop vaccines quickly as the world becomes more global and human populations interact more often with each other and wild habitats. Importantly, these vaccines need to be suitable for distribution in a variety of settings, including those that do not have easy access to refrigeration.

Influenza Virus. Si et al used influenza as a model to engineer and test PROTAC Virus vaccines

There are many ways to classify the different types of vaccines that are currently available. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States, categorizes vaccines as: whole pathogen vaccines, subunit vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines—based on how the antigen that stimulates the immune response is delivered to the host.

Whole-pathogen vaccines, which include many of vaccines used in clinical settings, use the entire pathogen (organism that causes the disease) that has been either weakened or killed to elicit a protective immune response. Killed vaccines are what their name implies: the pathogen has been killed so that it cannot cause disease, but enough of its structure remains to generate antibody response. Often, the immune response generated with killed vaccines is not as robust as that generated with other kinds of vaccines. 

Weakened or attenuated vaccines use whole pathogens that have been weakened in the laboratory through long-term culture or other means. Our modern MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine is an example of an attenuated vaccine. These vaccines tend to generate strong, long-lasting immune responses, but have increased risk for immunocompromised individuals.

Engineering an Influenza A PROTAC Virus Vaccine

A recent paper by Si et al published in Nature Biotechnology describes a new type of live-attenuated whole pathogen vaccine: the PROTAC virus. PROTAC viruses are prevented from replicating by targeting critical viral proteins for degradation using the host cell protein degradation pathway. The vaccine is live-attenuated by the host cells that degrade critical proteins.

Continue reading “PROTAC Virus Vaccines: A New Approach to Vaccine Development”

Paving New Ways for Drug Discovery & Development: Targeted Protein Degradation

Posted on by Riley Bell

The Dana-Farber Targeted Protein Degradation Webinar Series discusses new discoveries and modalities in protein degradation.

In this webinar, Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Danette Daniels, focuses primarily on proteolysis-targeting chimeras, or PROTACs. A variety of topics are covered including the design, potency, and efficacy of PROTACs in targeted protein degradation. Watch the video below to learn more about how PROTACs are shifting perspectives through fascinating research and discoveries in targeted protein degradation.

Learn more about targeted protein degradation and PROTACS here.

Targeted Protein Degradation: A Bright Future for Drug Discovery

Posted on by Ken Doyle
targeted protein degradation and protacs

Our cells have evolved multiple mechanisms for “taking out the trash”—breaking down and disposing of cellular components that are defective, damaged or no longer required. Within a cell, these processes are balanced by the synthesis of new components, so that DNA, RNA and proteins are constantly undergoing turnover.

Proteins are degraded by two major components of the cellular machinery. The discovery of the lysosome in the mid-1950s provided considerable insight into the first of these degradation mechanisms for extracellular and cytosolic proteins. Over the next several decades, details of a second protein degradation mechanism emerged: the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Ubiquitin is a small, highly conserved polypeptide that is used to selectively tag proteins for degradation within the cell. Multiple ubiquitin tags are generally attached to a single targeted protein. This ill-fated, ubiquitinated protein is then recognized by the proteasome, a large protein complex with proteolytic activity. Ubiquitination is a multistep process, involving several specialized enzymes. The final step in the process is mediated by a family of ubiquitin ligases, known as E3.

Continue reading “Targeted Protein Degradation: A Bright Future for Drug Discovery”

Deubiquitinases: A Backdoor into Undruggable Targets?

Posted on by Michele Arduengo

Molecular model of the yeast proteasome.
Molecular model of the yeast proteasome.

Ubiquitin modification of a protein directs events such as targeting for proteasomal degradation. Targeting a protein for degradation through ubiquitin modification is one way to regulate the amount of time a signaling protein, such as a kinase or other enzyme, is available to participate in cell signaling events. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are enzymes that cleave the ubiquitin tags from proteins, and they have been implicated in several diseases, including cancer.

With their roles in the stabilization of proteins involved in cell cycle progression and other critical processes, DUBs are promising targets for small molecule inhibitors, particularly since they may provide a “back door” for targeting otherwise intractable, undruggable proteins by modulating their half lives. However, finding small molecule inhibitors of the ubiquitin proteases to date has not been trivial. Here we highlight two papers describing the identification and characterization of small molecule inhibitors against the DUB USP7. Continue reading “Deubiquitinases: A Backdoor into Undruggable Targets?”

A New Method that Marks Proteins for Destruction

Posted on by Isobel Maciver

The ability to manipulate genes and proteins and observe the effects of specific changes is a foundational aspect of molecular biology. From the first site-directed mutagenesis systems to the development of knockout mice and RNA interference, technologies for making targeted changes to specific proteins to eliminate their expression or alter their function have made tremendous contributions to scientific discovery.

A recent paper highlights a novel application of HaloTag technology to enable the targeted destruction of specific HaloTag fusion proteins in vivo. The paper, published online in the July issue of Nature Chemical Biology, details a promising new method with application for validation of potential drug targets by specific in vivo inhibition, and for studying the function of specific genes in organogenesis or disease development. Continue reading “A New Method that Marks Proteins for Destruction”