"Given the potential challenges of directly inhibiting UGDH, therapeutic strategies may extend to targeting downstream pathways and upstream substrates."
A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on September 28, 2023, entitled, "UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) in clinical oncology and cancer biology."
UDP-glucose-6-dehydrogenase (UGDH) is a cytosolic, hexameric enzyme that converts UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcUA), a key reaction in hormone and xenobiotic metabolism and in the production of extracellular matrix precursors.
In this review, researchers Meghan J. Price, Annee D. Nguyen, Jovita K. Byemerwa, Jasmine Flowers, César D. Baëta, and C. Rory Goodwin from Johns Hopkins Hospital, Duke University, Stanford University, Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis, and Duke Cancer Institute classify UGDH as a molecular indicator of tumor progression in multiple cancer types, describe its involvement in key canonical cancer signaling pathways, and identify methods to inhibit UGDH, its substrates, and its downstream products.
"As such, we position UGDH as an enzyme to be exploited as a potential prognostication marker in oncology and a therapeutic target in cancer biology."
Read the full paper: DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28514
Correspondence to: C. Rory Goodwin