CytRx Announces Publication of Article Discussing Use of RNAi Screening Platform

CytRx Corporation has announced the publication of a scientific article that further supports the use of the proprietary RNA interference screening technology it has licensed in identifying and validating novel drug targets for the development of therapeutics to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The article reports that silencing of these drug targets in fat cells enhances glucose transport and insulin responsiveness both of which are linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

CytRx has exclusive rights to intellectual property covering these drug targets and the RNAi screening method used to identify them.

The article, "An RNA interference-based screen identifies MAP4K4/NIK as a negative regulator of PPAR-y, adipogenesis, and insulin-responsive hexose transport," was published in the February 14, 2006 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

"The findings presented in this research article support our approach of using high throughput RNAi screens in metabolically important tissues to identify drug targets that serve as molecular starting points for developing obesity and type 2 diabetes therapeutic treatments," said Steven A. Kriegsman, President and CEO of CytRx.

"Our work with Dr. Czech and our team of distinguished scientific advisors using this RNAi screening technology is accelerating the development of next generation medicines to treat these widespread metabolic diseases."

Dr. Czech, who also serves as Chairman of the CytRx Metabolic Scientific Advisory Board, added, "We are using high throughput RNAi screening coupled with vast gene profiling databases of human and animal metabolic tissues to identify and validate novel drug targets."

"We look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts with CytRx to advance these potential drug targets into the clinic."