Saracatinib (AZD-0530) is an experimental

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

being developed by

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...

. It acts as a dual

kinase inhibitor A protein kinase inhibitor is a type of enzyme inhibitor that blocks the action of one or more protein kinases. Protein kinases are enzymes that phosphorylate (add a phosphate, or PO4, group) to a protein and can modulate its function. The phospha ...

, with selective actions as a

Src inhibitor Src inhibitor is a class of inhibitors that targets the Src kinase family of tyrosine kinase, which is transcribed by the Src proto-oncogene (short for "sarcoma gene") that potentially induce malignant transformations of certain cells. Because of ...

and a

Bcr-Abl tyrosine-kinase inhibitor Bcr-Abl tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI) are the first-line therapy for most patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). More than 90% of CML cases are caused by a chromosomal abnormality that results in the formation of a so-called Philadel ...

. It was originally under development for the treatment of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, but while it appeared promising in animal studies and was well tolerated in humans, it failed to show sufficient efficacy in cancer patients and was ultimately not developed further for this application. However, saracatinib has subsequently been researched for other applications such as

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. AZD0530 is an inhibitor of Src and Abl family kinases1. It has been developed as treatment for malignancies because these kinases play a role in tumor invasion and proliferation. However, the Src family kinases (SFKs) are highly expressed in brain and have major effects on synaptic plasticity2. Moreover, the investigators have recently shown that a specific SFK, namely Fyn, is aberrantly activated by specific conformations of the Amyloid Beta (Aß) peptide from Alzheimer's disease (AD). Genetic deletion of Fyn rescues AD deficits in preclinical models. This clinical trial will test the potential benefit of AZD0530 for Alzheimer's disease modification. and

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

. It has furthermore been described that Saracatinib impairs maintenance of human T-cells Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia by targeting the LCK tyrosine kinase in cells displaying high level of lipid rafts.

References

{{Reflist Experimental cancer drugs Non-receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors

See also

References