Small Molecule Therapeutics to Treat the β-globinopathies

Purpose Of Review: The current review focuses on recent insights into the development of small molecule therapeutics to treat the β-globinopathies.

Recent Findings: Recent studies of fetal γ-globin gene regulation reveal multiple insights into how γ-globin gene reactivation may lead to novel treatment for β-globinopathies.

Summary: We summarize current information regarding the binding of transcription factors that appear to be impeded or augmented by different hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) mutations. As transcription factors have historically proven to be difficult to target for therapeutic purposes, we next address the contributions of protein complexes associated with these HPFH mutation-affected transcription factors with the aim of defining proteins that might provide additional targets for chemical molecules to inactivate the corepressors. Among the enzymes associated with the transcription factor complexes, a group of corepressors with currently available inhibitors were initially thought to be good candidates for potential therapeutic purposes. We discuss possibilities for pharmacological inhibition of these corepressor enzymes that might significantly reactivate fetal γ-globin gene expression. Finally, we summarize the current clinical trial data regarding the inhibition of select corepressor proteins for the treatment of sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.