Abstract:

In eukaryotes, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway degrades the majority of intracellular proteins tagged with polyubiquitin chains. It participates in regulation of key cellular activities, such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, apoptosis, DNA repair, etc. through the degradation of malformed or misfolded proteins. Dysfunctions of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway have been linked to many diseases, including cancer and neurodegeneration, etc. The commercially available proteasome inhibitors have been successfully used to treat multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. In addition, novel inhibitors against other components of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, such as those enzymes that drive ubiquitination and deubiquitination in preclinical testing or clinical trials, exhibit promising therapeutic effects in vivo. This paper briefly introduces the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway related drug discovery progress.

Key words: Ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, Cancer, Drug development, Proteasome inhibitor