BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Cancer

February 5, 2019 4:04 PM UTC

Patient sample and cell culture studies suggest inhibiting USP7 or its downstream mediator YAP1 could help treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In patient samples, tumor levels of USP7 and YAP1 proteins were higher than in adjacent normal tissue. In a human HCC cell line, siRNAs targeting USP7 or YAP1 decreased proliferation compared with a non-targeting siRNA. In two human HCC cell lines, the USP7 inhibitors HBX 19,818, P5091 or a tool compound decreased proliferation compared with no treatment. Next steps could include testing the USP7 inhibitors in mouse models of HCC.

Hybrigenics S.A. has HBX 19,818, a dual USP7/USP10 inhibitor, in preclinical testing for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)...