The
ubiquitin-
proteasome pathway (UPP) is an attractive chemotherapeutic target due to its intrinsically stringent regulation of cell cycle, pro-survival, and anti-apoptotic regulators that disproportionately favor survival and proliferation in malignant cells. A reversible first-in-class
proteasome inhibitor,
bortezomib, is Food and Drug Administration approved for
multiple myeloma and relapsed/refractory
mantle cell lymphoma and has proven to be extremely effective, both as a single agent and in combination. An irreversible second generation
proteasome inhibitor,
carfilzomib, has shown preclinical effectiveness against hematological and solid
malignancies both in vitro and in vivo.
Carfilzomib, a peptidyl-epoxyketone functions similarly to
bortezomib through primary inhibition of
chymotrypsin-like (ChT-L) activity at the b5 subunits of the core
20S proteasome.
Carfilzomib is also currently achieving successful response rates within the clinical setting. In addition to conventional
proteasome inhibitors, a novel approach may be to specifically target the hematological-specific immunoproteasome, thereby increasing overall effectiveness and reducing negative off-target effects. The immunoproteasome-specific inhibitor,
IPSI-001, was shown to have inhibitory preference over the constitutive
proteasome, and display enhanced efficiency of apoptotic induction of
tumor cells from a hematologic origin. Herein, we discuss the preclinical and clinical development of
carfilzomib and explore the potential of immunoproteasome-specific inhibitors, like
IPSI-001, as a rational approach to exclusively target
hematological malignancies.