Synthetic Peptide Blocks Tumor Growth and Prevents Blood Cell Formation

Cancer researchers have shown that the synthetic peptide HB-19 is a promising drug candidate due to its ability to suppress both tumor growth and development of new blood vessels while being nontoxic towards normal tissues.

Investigators at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris, France) studied the interaction of HB-19 with the cell membrane protein nucleolin. Nucleolin is one of the major proteins of the nucleolus, but it is also expressed on the cell surface where is serves as a binding protein for variety of ligands implicated in cell proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, mitogenesis, and angiogenesis. HB-19 forms a stable complex with the cell-surface expressed nucleolin and is internalized by an active process. This leads to down regulation of surface nucleolin without any apparent effect on nuclear nucleolin, since internalized HB-19 does not cross the nuclear membrane.

Results published in the June 18, 2008, issue of the journal Plos ONE revealed that HP-19 was a potent inhibitor of tumor growth and new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) in a variety of in vitro and in vivo experimental models. In particular, HB-19 treatment markedly suppressed the progression of established human breast tumor cell xenografts in nude mice, and in some cases eliminated measurable tumors while displaying no toxicity to normal tissue.

The authors concluded by stating that, "Our results illustrate the dual inhibitory action of HB-19 on the tumor development and the neovascularization process, thus validating the cell-surface expressed nucleolin as a strategic target for an effective cancer drug. Consequently, the HB-19 pseudopeptide provides a unique candidate to consider for innovative cancer therapy.”


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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique