Finding new ways to target cancer proteins that current drugs can't reach
Tackling Undruggable Cancer Targets using Chemoproteomic Platforms
Researchers are building chemical and proteomics tools to discover and drug cancer proteins that today have no effective medicines, aiming to enable new cancer treatments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Berkeley NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Berkeley, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11176749 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, this project is creating new chemical probes and proteomics methods to locate spots on cancer proteins that medicines can bind. The team will use these tools on cancer-relevant proteins (in cells and biological samples) to find new kinds of drug candidates and modalities. Success could open routes to therapies for tumors driven by proteins currently considered "undruggable." The work is lab-based at UC Berkeley and focused on translating molecular discoveries toward future clinical options.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients with cancers that lack effective targeted treatments or whose tumors have become resistant to existing drugs may eventually be eligible to contribute samples or enroll in follow-on trials.
Not a fit: People without cancer or those seeking immediate treatment are unlikely to benefit directly because this is a preclinical discovery program rather than a therapeutic trial.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could expand the number of cancer targets we can drug and lead to new therapies for patients whose tumors lack effective options.
How similar studies have performed: Related chemoproteomic and ligand-discovery approaches (including covalent probes and targeted protein degraders) have produced promising leads, but broadly turning the "undruggable" proteome into druggable targets is still an emerging area with many unknowns.
Where this research is happening
Berkeley, United States
- University of California Berkeley — Berkeley, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nomura, Daniel — University of California Berkeley
- Study coordinator: Nomura, Daniel
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.