Techniques & Tools Mass Spectrometry, Clinical, Pharma & Biopharma, Proteomics, Translational Science

Triple Success

Treating one of the most aggressive cancers could be possible – thanks to MALDI-MS and proteomics

09/30/2024 | News

Triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most aggressive tumor types, characterized by chemotherapy-resistant and very “stiff” lesions – making it challenging to treat.

Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina recently developed a promising new agent, LXG6403, that could help overcome these issues (1).

The drug targets the driver of this aggressive tumorigenesis and progression, a protein known as lysyl oxidase (LOX). To test the efficiency and permeability of their drug/inhibitor combined MALDI-MS imaging with extracellular matrix (ECM)-targeted proteomics – enabling them to visualize the architecture and layout of proteins within the tumors and adapt their LOX inhibitor to achieve maximal performance.

“We collected the tumor tissue and analyzed the proteome with different mass spec approaches, and we could see that our inhibitor has a huge impact on the ECM, collagen, and other structural proteins,” explained corresponding author Ozgur Sahin in a press release (2).

The team is waiting to get the green light to move on with clinical trials of LXG6403 and are hopeful their drug could be useful for other LOX-driven diseases, such as pancreatic and kidney cancer.

Email*

Choose a password*

I have read and understand the Privacy Notice *

Stay up to date with our other newsletters and sponsors information, tailored specifically to the fields you are interested in

Receive communication from The Cannabis Scientist I want to stay up to date with the Mass Spectrometry field I want to stay up to date with the Spectroscopy field

When you click “Subscribe” we will email you a link, which you must click to verify the email address above and activate your subscription. If you do not receive this email, please contact us at [email protected].
If you wish to unsubscribe, you can update your preferences at any point.

Techniques & Tools Mass Spectrometry, Clinical, Pharma & Biopharma, Proteomics, Translational Science

M Cetin et al., “A highly potent bi-thiazole inhibitor of LOX rewires collagen architecture and enhances chemoresponse in triple-negative breast cancer,” Cell Chemical Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2024.06.012.