We have received the project “Highly selective galectin-1 inhibitors for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer” in the PRAK Program, which is an internal program of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), from which funding can be obtained for the development of the application potential of research results. Researchers have up to 24 months to achieve the set goals and transfer research results to the first customers or industrial partners. The aim of the PRAK program is to support activities necessary for the application of knowledge generated at the workplaces of the CAS, to motivate workers to apply them or to increase the commercial readiness of research results with a high TRL (technology readiness level). The program also focuses on the protection of intellectual property at the workplaces of the CAS.
A team from the Research Group of Bioorganic Chemistry and Biomaterials (Vojtěch Hamala, Jindřich Karban) has developed new highly selective inhibitors of the Gal-1 protein, which plays a key role in tumor growth, immunosuppression, and chemoresistance – RuTDG and its modified form BuRuTDG. While RuTDG specifically inhibits extracellular Gal-1, thereby interfering with the pro-oncogenic pathways of tumor cells and preventing the suppression of the immune response, BuRuTDG enables targeted inhibition of intracellular Gal-1, which leads to increased efficacy of chemotherapy. A significant advantage of the solution is its high selectivity – unlike other galectins that may have an anti-tumor effect, RuTDG and BuRuTDG specifically target only the pro-oncogenic protein Gal-1.
The subject of the project is the newly developed compounds RuTDG and BuRuTDG, which inhibit the pro-oncogenic protein galectin-1 (Gal-1) with high selectivity. These substances were designed for targeted anti-tumor therapy, especially for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is characterized by an aggressive course, limited treatment options, and a high risk of metastasis. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for approximately 10–20% of all breast cancer cases. It lacks hormone receptors and HER2, making it unsuitable for hormone or HER-2-targeted therapy. Currently, it is treated mainly with non-selective chemotherapy or immunotherapy, often with limited efficacy. TNBC also affects younger patients and is associated with higher rates of recurrence and metastasis.
Main advantages
- high selectivity, low toxicity, and low risk of side effects
- the first solution focused on Gal-1 inhibition
- possible use for other types of tumors
- possible combination with commonly used cytostatics
Commercial use
