Description:
The Current State of the Art:
HER2 (also known as ErbB2), a receptor tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in around 25% of breast cancer cells. It is a known anti-cancer target to the monoclonal antibody, Trastuzumab.
Limitation of the Current Art:
However, about 20% patients develop resistance to Trastuzumab. Pertuzumab, Lapatinib, and other trastuzumab conjugates are being developed to overcome drug resistance. But cancer cells still escape from these treatments via intrinsic or de novo pathways. It is critical to identify new pathways to expand the treatment options for HER2+ cancer.
Advantages of Our Invention:
Scientists at AU identified that Erbin, an intracellular protein, interacts with ErbB2 and stabilizes ErbB2. This interaction is required for the ErbB2-dependent growth of tumor cells. They developed novel small peptides that disrupted the Erbin-ErbB2 interaction, increased ErbB2 degradation, and inhibited the growth of tumor cells and tumor growth in mice implanted with tumor cells. Therefore, Erbin and ErbB2 interaction can be a promising new treatment target for patients with HER2+ cancer.
AURI # 2013-014; 2009-034
IP status: US9493542
Reference: https://www.pnas.org/content/111/42/E4429