Peptidic Inhibitors of N-myc for Treatment of Neuroblastoma
Abstract
The goal of this project is to develop drug-like peptides that can directly bind to the oncogenic transcription factor N-myc and block its ability to activate downstream genes. N-myc, an oncogenic transcription factor, is an attractive target for the treatment of Neuroblastoma. However, N-myc is thought to be an undruggable target as it is involved in protein-protein interactions that are difficult to modulate with small molecules. Here, we attempted to develop drug-like peptides that can directly bind to N-myc and block its activation of downstream genes. In the past year, we have attempted to use mRNA display, an in vitro selection technology, to develop short peptides that can bind to N-myc. We originally identified in several sequences resulting from an invitro selection targeting N-myc via next generation seqeuncing, however, subsequent experiments have determined that the peptides resulting from this selection can unexpectedly bind the matrix used for target immobilization, even in the presence of biotin. Our results also demonstrate the importance of using a hydrophilic immobilization matrix to avoid a strong undesirable hydrophobic bias in the library.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1086023
Entities
People
- Richard W. Roberts
- Terry T. Takahashi
Organizations
- University of Southern California