Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42444470›Full record

ReviewChemical Society reviews2026

The synthetic landscape of cereblon (CRBN) binders: from thalidomide to emerging chemotypes.

Sergi Rafael, Carolina Sánchez-Zarzalejo, Rory Whelan, Clifford Harris, Xavier Verdaguer, Cristina Mayor-Ruiz, Antoni Riera

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Chemical Society reviews, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Sergi RafaelInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain. cristina.mayor-ruiz@irbbarcelona.org.
Carolina Sánchez-ZarzalejoInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain. cristina.mayor-ruiz@irbbarcelona.org.
Rory WhelanInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain. cristina.mayor-ruiz@irbbarcelona.org.
Clifford HarrisAlbion College, Michigan, USA.
Xavier VerdaguerInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain. cristina.mayor-ruiz@irbbarcelona.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9229-969X
Cristina Mayor-RuizInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain. cristina.mayor-ruiz@irbbarcelona.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6442-5495
Antoni RieraInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain. cristina.mayor-ruiz@irbbarcelona.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7142-7675

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Thalidomide, initially marketed as a sedative and anti-emetic, was withdrawn in the 1960s due to catastrophic teratogenic effects. Decades later, thalidomide was reconsidered as an anticancer agent, resulting in FDA approval against multiple myeloma. This success spurred the development of structural analogs lenalidomide and then pomalidomide as cancer therapies (immunomodulatory imide drugs, IMiDs). Subsequent landmark studies have revealed that IMiDs act as molecular glue degraders, co-opting the E3 ubiquitin ligase cereblon (CRBN) to induce the polyubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of several proteins (

Indexed as

Adaptor Proteins, Signal TransducingPeptide HydrolasesThalidomideUbiquitin-Protein LigasesHumansProteolysis Targeting ChimeraAdaptor Proteins, Signal TransducingCRBN protein, humanPeptide HydrolasesProteolysis Targeting ChimeraThalidomideUbiquitin-Protein Ligases

Identifiers

PMID42444470
PMCPMC13366208

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.