Kinaxo Biotechnologies has applied its Cellular Target Profiling technology to identify the protein kinase Mtor as a new cellular target of celecoxib (Celebrex, Pfizer).
Celecoxib is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory Cox-2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and acute pain.
In addition, celecoxib's anti-proliferative effect has earned it a place in numerous clinical trials against several malignancies.
The discovery that celecoxib targets Mtor contributes to a better understanding of the drug's mode of action and efficacy in cancer patients.
Mtor (mammalian target of rapamycin) acts as a central regulator of cell proliferation, cell survival, angiogenesis and cell metabolism.
Moreover, Mtor is a key intracellular convergence point for a number of signalling pathways that are abnormally activated in many types of cancer.
As traditional drug development approaches become more expensive, drug repositioning has been widely recognised as an opportunity to expand a drug's therapeutical applications.
Here, Cellular Target Profiling provides a powerful approach to revealing new targets that indicate additional or alternative medical uses for clinically validated or approved drugs.
