A team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the University of Tokyo has made a significant breakthrough in the fight against cancer by developing a highly selective inhibitor for an enzyme called Matrix Metallopeptidase 7 (MMP7). This enzyme plays a crucial role in cancer progression, especially in helping tumors invade surrounding tissues and spread to other parts of the body ( metastasis ). MMP7 has long been recognized as an attractive target for cancer therapies, but creating drugs that specifically block it has proven challenging due to the structural similarities it shares with other related enzymes in the matrix metalloproteinase family.
These enzymes have overlapping functions, which makes it difficult to design a drug that targets only MMP7 without affecting others. Led by Professor Norman Metanis and PhD student Hiba Ghareeb from the Hebrew University, in collaboration with Professor Irit Sagi from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Professor Hiroaki Suga from the University of Tokyo, the study utilized a pioneering approach called Mirror-Image Random Nonstandard Peptide Integrated Discovery (MI-RaPID). This advanced technology enabled the research team to identify a new class of molecules—known as macrocyclic peptides—that bind specifically to MMP7, inhibiting its activity without interfering with similar enzymes.
One of the standout peptides discovered in this study, named D'20, was designed in a uni.