Targeting certain types of cancer by inhibiting ERK/MyD88 interaction

Targeting certain types of cancer by inhibiting ERK/MyD88 interaction

A study led by Toufic Renno and Isabelle Coste in the “Targeting non-canonical functions of proteins in cancer” team, in collaboration with Stéphane Giraud of CRCL’s C3D platform, has just been published in the journal Nature Communications, revealing significant advances in the fight against cancer. This research highlights the importance of inhibiting ERK/MyD88 interaction, a crucial mechanism in the progression of certain cancers.

The core of this discovery lies in the disruption of the interaction between ERK, a kinase essential to the RAS signaling pathway, and MYD88, a protein involved in inflammatory processes and cancer cell survival. The research team succeeded in identifying pharmacological inhibitors capable of blocking this interaction. Administration of these inhibitors leads to targeted cancer cell death and triggers an anti-tumor immune response.

This strategy, which targets protein interactions rather than their cellular function, opens up innovative prospects for the development of new targeted therapies. The inhibitors developed are currently in preclinical and pharmaceutical development within the TheraPPI Biosciences start-up, created specifically to exploit this promising research.

Read the article in Nature Communications.