Importance of the field: The cell division cycle 25 (Cdc25) family of proteins are highly conserved dual specificity phosphatases that regulate cyclin-dependent kinases, the main gatekeepers of the eukaryotic cell division cycle. The three isoforms of Cdc25, including Cdc25A, Cdc25B and Cdc25C, appear to act on different cyclin-dependent kinase/cyclin complexes at different stages of the cell cycle. Overexpression of Cdc25A and/or Cdc25B, but not Cdc25C, has been detected in numerous cancers and is often correlated with a poor clinical prognosis. Thus, inhibition of these phosphatases may represent a promising therapeutic approach in oncology.
Areas covered in this review: The main focus of the present review is to describe the development of Cdc25 inhibitors over the years. We describe different compounds according to the decade of discovery and focus attention on molecules that were published in patents.
What the reader will gain: Insight into the most clinically relevant therapeutic Cdc25 analogues that have been published in over 40 patents over the past 19 years.
Take home message: Some Cdc25 inhibitors have suppressed in vivo the growth of human tumor xenografts in animals; this confirmed the validity of using Cdc25 phosphatase inhibition as an anticancer strategy, but side effects and toxicity remain to be investigated.