Cancer Research Technology grants AstraZeneca an exclusive license to a key patent

Dec 1 2004

Cancer Research Technology Limited has announced that AstraZeneca has licensed exclusive worldwide rights to a patent family relating to a nuclear receptor/co-activator binding motif.

Nuclear receptors require co-activator binding in order to activate gene transcription. Ligand-induced nuclear receptor conformational changes facilitate the recruitment of certain co-activators through the recognition of a specific motif contained within the co-activator protein. Prof. Malcolm Parker’s studies, funded by Cancer Research UK, identified this motif within the co-activator protein known as the LXXLL motif (where L is Leucine and X is any amino acid).

The nuclear receptor family represents a plethora of therapeutic targets for many clinical conditions. AstraZeneca’s research interests initially will focus on the area of respiratory and inflammation; however, broader application is possible across all of the company’s research areas. Targeting the nuclear receptor/co-activator interaction represents an alternative strategy for the inhibition of nuclear receptors.