Ricerc@Sapienza

Background: Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with multiple comorbidities and is characterized by an auto-aggressive inflammatory state leading to massive collateral damage. To identify preventive and therapeutic strategies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it is important to ascertain the molecular interactions between virus and host, and how they translate into disease pathophysiology.

GADD45? is selectively and constitutively expressed in Multiple Myeloma cells, and this expression correlates with an unfavourable clinical outcome. GADD45? physically interacts with the JNK kinase, MKK7, inhibiting its activity to enable the survival of cancer cells. DTP3 is a small peptide inhibitor of the GADD45?/MKK7 complex and is able to restore MKK7/JNK activation, thereby promoting selective cell death of GADD45?-overexpressing cancer cells.