Gemin X Reports In Vivo Efficacy of Viral Death Protein In Cancer
- AACR Conference Data Demonstrate Efficacy of Novel E4orf4 Viral
Death Protein in Mouse Xenograft Studies -
Montreal, QC — October 31, 2001 — Gemin X Biotechnologies Inc. announced today that their novel E4orf4 viral death protein was shown to selectively induce apoptosis (the natural process of cell death) in several types of cancer cells in vitro and significantly retard tumor growth in mice. Gemin X scientists presented the data today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) - National Cancer Institute (NCI) - European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) International Conference in Miami Beach, Florida.
"Our research into the E4orf4 viral death protein and its role in promoting apoptosis provides us with encouraging information for the development of apoptosis-based cancer therapeutics," said Dan Giampuzzi, President and CEO of Gemin X. "We not only have a better understanding of E4orf4-induced apoptosis, but we also have insights into how apoptosis-based therapeutics function at the molecular level. This information will be invaluable as we identify novel drug targets and subsequently small molecule apoptotic inducers for the treatment of cancer."
In vitro studies on lung carcinoma cells showed that E4orf4-induced cell death exhibits many of the hallmarks of apoptosis without activation of caspases, proteins that regulate the cell death process. These observations suggest E4orf4 gene therapy represents a novel caspase-independent apoptosis mechanism. Additionally, when expressed alone in an adenoviral vector, E4orf4 killed a wide range of human tumor cells, regardless of p53 status, but had little effect on normal primary human cells. In animal models, E4orf4 adenovectors significantly retarded the growth of human lung and cervical tumor xenografts.
Gemin X Biotechnologies Inc. is a Montréal, Québec, based biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery and development of novel cancer therapeutics. The Company's expertise is in apoptosis, the natural process of cell death that serves as the body's defense against injured or damaged cells. Using its proprietary discovery platform, Gemin X has identified a series of small molecules that effectively inhibit the Bcl-2 pathway, a validated drug target implicated in B cell lymphoma, breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancer. Additionally, the Company has programs dedicated to the identification of novel cancer targets and therapeutics, discovering small molecules that promote apoptosis in cells infected with latent viruses, and finding compounds that act against chemo-resistant cancers.
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