Blocking the tumor protein-making machine (eIF4F) to slow cancer
Official title: Targeting central regulation of oncogenic signaling through inhibition of translation initiation complex eIF4F
Funded at Southern Illinois Univ at Edwardsville · NIH-11137704 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project is creating small drug-like molecules to block a key protein interaction that lets many cancers make excess proteins, with the hope of helping patients whose tumors resist standard treatments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Southern Illinois Univ at Edwardsville NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Edwardsville, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2023 |
| Project end | July 1, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $180,625 |
| NIH project number | 5R16GM150772-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11137704 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be people with tumors driven by high protein synthesis or pathways like Myc, Ras, or PI3K-AKT-mTOR, especially those whose cancer has become resistant to first-line treatments.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without cancers that depend on elevated protein synthesis, or people seeking immediate clinical treatment now rather than future therapies, are unlikely to benefit directly from this preclinical work.
What this research studies
From a patient's view, researchers are designing and testing new small molecules that stop two proteins (eIF4E and eIF4G) from working together, which cancer cells use to make dangerous proteins. They use computer modeling to find promising chemical shapes, then test those compounds in laboratory cancer models and 3-D cell systems to check potency and solubility. The team focuses on improving affinity and selectivity to avoid off-target effects that hampered earlier compounds. These are preclinical efforts based at a university lab, with the goal of producing drug candidates for future testing in people.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, these drugs could make resistant tumors stop growing or become more sensitive to existing therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous efforts showed that blocking the eIF4E–eIF4G interaction can work in principle but faced problems with low affinity, poor solubility, and off-target effects, so this project aims to improve on those limitations.
Where this research is happening
-
Southern Illinois Univ at Edwardsville
Edwardsville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Patel, Bhargav Ashokbhai — Southern Illinois Univ at Edwardsville
- Study coordinator: Patel, Bhargav Ashokbhai
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.