Fight Cancer With Sugar
Lina Irsheid, Christoph Borek & AK Seibel (Universität Würzburg)
Selectins, carbohydrate recognizing proteins, play a crucial role in binding metastasizing cancer cells. Studies have shown an overexpression of different sugar-hydrolyzing enzymes in these cells, making such enzymes promising targets for new anti-cancer drugs. Especially inhibition of the Golgi-α-mannosidase II (GM II) has shown tumor repression. The goal of our project is the synthesis of selective, covalent-reversible inhibitors. QM/MM-calculations and docking simulations have shown that bicyclic acetals are promising candidates.
