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Polo-like kinase inhibitors: an emerging opportunity for cancer therapeutics

Puneet Chopra1, Gautam Sethi, Sunanda G Dastidar

  • 1New Drug Discovery Research, Department of Pharmacology, Ranbaxy Research Laboratories, Gurgaon-122001-Haryana, India. p.chopra@ranbaxy.com

Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs
|December 17, 2009
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is crucial for cell division and is overexpressed in many cancers. Inhibiting Plk1 shows promise as an effective anticancer therapy, with several Plk1 inhibitors in clinical development.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Oncology
  • Drug Discovery

Background:

  • Polo-like kinase (Plk) family regulates cell cycle progression.
  • Plk1 isoform is critical for mitosis, including chromosome segregation and cytokinesis.
  • Plk1 is overexpressed in various human cancers, correlating with high mitotic index.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the role of Plk1 in cancer.
  • To highlight Plk1 as a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment.
  • To discuss the current status and benefits of Plk1 inhibitors compared to other mitotic targets.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review focusing on Plk1's role in cancer.
  • Analysis of current Plk1 inhibitors in clinical development.
  • Comparison of Plk1 inhibition with other mitotic targets.

Main Results:

  • Plk1 is a promising novel drug target for anticancer therapy.
  • Significant progress has been made in the development of Plk1 inhibitors.
  • Plk1 inhibition demonstrates potential for decreasing cancer cell viability and inducing apoptosis.

Conclusions:

  • Plk1 inhibition is a potential antitumor strategy.
  • Knockout studies and existing literature support Plk1 inhibition for cancer therapy.
  • Plk1 inhibitors represent a developing class of anticancer agents.

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