Almost all medical treatments are based on drugs that inhibit the activity of proteins in the body leaving them unable to contribute to the development of, for example, tumors, inflammatory diseases, or metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.

A number of drugs that target a group of proteins—the so-called HDAC enzymes—have attracted significant attention in recent years from researchers and drug developers, because they contribute to the development of resistance towards cancer treatments. New research has demonstrated that they also play a crucial role in a whole range of other diseases that are due to dysregulation of human genes.

An organic chemistry research team at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, has been investigating all the 11 HDAC enzymes expressed in human cells to develop specific molecules that can bind to the enzymes and block their activity in the body.

In a study just published by the esteemed scientific journal Cell Chemical Biology, the researchers carried out a wide range of tests using chemically designed molecules to reveal the activities of HDAC enzymes and provide insights into their function at the molecular level. To their great surprise, they made a number of new, undescribed discoveries related to the HDAC11 enzyme.

”We have found a handle that will enable the identification of new inhibitors and this could potentially play a vital role in the development of drugs to treat several diseases," says Professor Christian Adam Olsen, Center for Biopharmaceuticals at the University of Copenhagen.