University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Professor in Medicine Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry Director, Michigan Center for Therapeutic Innovation Director, Cancer Drug Discovery Program University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Developing new therapies for breast cancer.
STAT3, a protein that regulates several genes known to cause cancer and affects cancer progression, proliferation, metastasis and drug resistance, is an attractive target for breast cancer therapy. Prior BCRF-supported research conducted by Dr. Wang and his team has led to the development of potent STAT3 degraders, which effectively inhibit tumor growth in laboratory models of triple-negative breast cancer. STAT3 degraders show no signs of toxicity even at high doses, and they exhibit potential as a new form of cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Wang and his team have shown that high levels of STAT3 activity inside immune cells can suppress the body’s defenses, while a balance between STAT3 and another protein, STAT5, is key for strong immune response. STAT3 degraders work by reprogramming immune cells known as dendritic cells, which play a critical role in activating other immune cells to fight cancer. In laboratory studies, the drugs boosted immune activity and shrank advanced and treatment-resistant tumors.
The research team will evaluate whether a STAT3 degrader drug candidate can slow tumor growth and strengthen immune response in several laboratory models of triple-negative breast cancer. They will also study how the drug works, including its effects in combination with commonly used immunotherapies. In addition, they will test it together with chemotherapy to see if the drug combination more effectively shrinks tumors. These studies aim to provide the foundation needed to launch future clinical trials in patients.
“BCRF funding has been critical for our ongoing development of STAT3 degraders as a completely new class of immunotherapy for the treatment of human breast cancer.”
Dr. Shaomeng Wang’s primary research interest is the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of human breast cancer and other types of cancer focusing on targeting apoptosis and epigenetics pathways. Dr. Wang has built a comprehensive drug discovery program at the University of Michigan and has advanced four novel anticancer drugs into clinical development and several additional compounds into IND-enabling studies. Dr. Wang has published over 250 manuscripts and is an inventor of more than 50 patents and patent applications.
Dr. Wang’s research program consists of three research laboratories. The computational/informatics laboratory has expertise in lead identification and lead optimization using structure-based methods and informatics. The chemistry laboratory has the capability of synthesizing complex small molecule ligands. The biology/biochemistry/pharmacology laboratory has the capability and expertise for assay development, in-depth molecular mechanism studies and evaluations of the biological activity of new compounds in relevant biochemical assays and laboratory models of human cancer, as well as in vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic analysis of these compounds.
2001
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