Development of a high-throughput screen for specific inhibitors of human indoleamine dioxygenase-2

Three related proteins are believed to play a role in cancer development in humans, helping the tumour to evade the body’s immune response. These are TDO (tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase), IDO1 (indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1) and IDO2 (indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-2). Several inhibitors (potential chemotherapy drugs) of IDO1 and TDO have been identified. However, the specific roles of the enzymes in cancer are still unclear. To better understand the role of IDO2 it will be advantageous to obtain specific inhibitors of the enzyme. This project seeks to determine conditions under which it is possible to rapidly test compounds as IDO2 inhibitors for further characterization