Novel protein inhibitors engineered as alternative approach to potentially treat cancer

Researchers have engineered endogenous protein inhibitors of protein-degrading enzymes as an alternative approach to synthetic inhibitors for potentially treating cancer and other diseases. Pharmaceutical companies have previously investigated the possible use of synthetic MMP inhibitors for treating cancer and other diseases, but they failed in clinical trials due to side effects, most likely because they were insufficiently specific and inhibited MMPs needed for normal physiological processes.