Expanding the number of drug targets in cancer using chemical tools
Chemical Proteomic Platforms for Radically Expanding Cancer Druggability
Building new chemical tools to find more molecules in cancer cells that medicines can target, with the goal of helping people with cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Scripps Research Institute, the NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11228209 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers at Scripps are creating and using activity-based protein profiling and stereochemically defined small-molecule libraries to reveal hidden binding pockets on cancer-related proteins. They make and test covalent ligands and bifunctional molecules that can bind, inhibit, or promote degradation of proteins once thought undruggable, such as transcription factors and RNA-binding proteins. The work uses biochemical assays and cancer cell models to validate which proteins can be targeted by these chemical probes. These tools aim to accelerate the discovery of new drug candidates for a variety of cancers.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with cancers driven by proteins that this program identifies as druggable might be future candidates for therapies developed from these tools, although the grant itself does not enroll patients.
Not a fit: Patients seeking immediate access to new treatments or those whose cancers are unrelated to the proteins studied are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this lab-focused work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could open up many new targets for cancer drugs and lead to therapies for cancers that are currently hard to treat.
How similar studies have performed: Related chemical proteomics approaches have already produced first-in-class chemical probes and promising drug leads, and this project builds on that prior success.
Where this research is happening
La Jolla, United States
- Scripps Research Institute, the — La Jolla, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cravatt, Benjamin F — Scripps Research Institute, the
- Study coordinator: Cravatt, Benjamin F
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 below.