A sustained antiplatelet effect plus target selectivity are the two major requirements for developing new antithrombotic therapies. Increasing the levels of cAMP in the platelets by the action of a prostacyclin receptor (PTGIR) agonist is a possible approach for this purpose. Researchers from the University of Michigan have presented preclinical data on their PTGIR agonist CS-585, which has shown higher blood stability, as a potential therapeutic for thrombosis.
Previous studies with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1 (MALT1) inhibitors have demonstrated their potential as antitumor agents across several tumor models when administered alone or in combination with standard treatments.
CD33 is known to be highly expressed in myeloid cells and a good therapeutic target for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In the search for more potent compounds, researchers from Dragonfly Therapeutics Inc. and Bristol Myers Squibb Inc. investigated the therapeutic potential of BMS-986357, also known as CC-96191.
Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are a group of disorders of which the main hallmarks are bone marrow fibrosis and atypical megakaryocytes (MK) accumulation. Both Rho kinase (ROCK) and Aurora kinase (ARK) pathways are involved in correct MK maturation.
A new degrader strategy has been previously proposed to mitigate platelet toxicity associated with Bcl-xL degraders. This strategy consists of selectively degrading Bcl-xL by the von Hippel-Lindau protein (VHL) E3 ligase in tumor cells, but not in platelets, which minimally express VHL. DT-2216 was developed as the first Bcl-xL degrader of this kind; however, this clinical candidate has still shown some platelet toxicity in vivo.
High expression of CD123, the IL-3 receptor α chain (IL-3α), is observed on both leukemic blasts and leukemic stem cells, thus suggesting it can be considered an attractive therapeutic target in AML.
It is known that heterozygous mutations in the HBB gene, which encodes β-globin, are the cause of inherited β-thalassemia. A new case report describes a novel frameshift mutation in the HBB gene leading to a dominant form of β-thalassemia.
Katy Rezvani received this year’s E. Donnall Thomas Prize for her work on natural killer (NK) cells at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). It was not love at first sight, though.
Spirits were high at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), buoyed by U.S. FDA approval of the first two gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) the day before the conference kicked off in San Diego.