SPARC Peptides for Regulation of Stromal Microenvironment in Cancer

University of Chicago
posted on 06/08/2010

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SPARC, which stands for Secreted Protein And Rich in Cysteine, is a multifunctional protein that has recently garnered a lot of attention as a potent potential therapy for certain types of cancer. SPARC appears to have the ability to suppress the growth of some types of tumors by cutting off their blood supply, resulting in starvation of the tumors.Additionally, in some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, suppression of SPARC expression correlates with therapy resistance. In these types of tumors, restoring SPARC function has the potential to reverse the oncogenic nature of the tumor cells and the resistance of these tumors to currently available therapeutic agents. Two University of Chicago cancer experts, Dr. Susan Cohn and Dr. Alex Chlenski, have developed short cyclic peptides based on the SPARC protein sequence that have demonstrated potent anti-cancer properties in animal models of neuroblastoma, the most common known type of extra-cranial pediatric cancer.  In these animal models, the short SPARC peptides effectively inhibited tumor-related formation of new blood vessels within the tumor and in the surrounding area.  This dramatically reduced the size of the tumors and normalized vascular architecture around the implantation site.  This is in stark contrast to mock treated animals that showed grossly abnormal hemorrhagic vasculature around the tumor sites, as is typically seen in invasive cancers.

Potential Benefits

Neuroblastoma is an important medical problem in children and infants and there is an undeniable unmet need for effective therapies against this dreadful disease. Additionally, it is likely that the SPARC peptides will have activity against other types of cancers that have been shown to be dependent on angiogenesis.  As such, these novel peptides potentially represent new broad spectrum anti-cancer agents with broad commercial applicability.