Peptides specific to Hsp90 with antitumor activity selected by Phage Display

• Grant number: 11/19996-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Rodolpho Raja Gabaglia Travassos
• Grantee: Camyla Fernandez de Farias
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Melanoma is a very aggressive cancer, responsible for 80% of all deaths from skin cancer. The weapons for the treatment of melanoma are very scarce and new technologies have been exploited to identify specific molecular targets and ligands. The phage display technique is widely used to identify specific proteins and peptides aimed at cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is responsible for regulating the conformation, stability, and activity of a variety of key proteins in various signaling pathways, implicated in cell transformation and tumor progression. The objective of this study is to identify antitumor peptides by phage display that are antagonists of Hsp90 proteins, evaluating their activity in vitro and in vivo efficacy.(AU)