Classification and synthesis of ubiquitin-proteasome inhibitor

The inhibition of protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is a recently  developed approach to cancer treatment which extends the range of cellular target for chemotherapy.  This therapeutic strategy is very interesting since the proteasomes carry out the regulated degradation of unnecessary or damaged cellular proteins, a process that is dysregulated in many cancer cells.  Based on this hypothesis, the proteasome complex inhibitor Bortezomib was approved for use in multiple myeloma patients by FDA in 2003.  Drug discovery programs in academy and the pharmaceutical industry have developed a range of synthetic and natural inhibitors of the 20S proteasome core particle that have entered human clinical trials as signi?cant anti-cancer leads.  The main results from the use of proteasome inhibition in cancer chemotherapy, the structure of several proteasome inhibitors and their synthesis is going to be reviewed in this paper.