Understanding the cell's protein-recycling system
Mechanistic Analysis of the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System
This project aims to find which proteins are tagged and removed by the cell's ubiquitin-proteasome system to help guide new treatments for cancers linked to that pathway.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard Medical School NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11313831 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will work in the lab to identify which cellular proteins are marked with ubiquitin and then degraded by the proteasome. They will use biochemical approaches and protein-identification techniques to discover new enzyme-substrate relationships in the ubiquitin-proteasome system. The team will characterize how the enzymes that add or remove ubiquitin choose their targets and how that choice is regulated. Although this is laboratory research rather than a clinical trial, the findings could point to new drug targets relevant to cancer.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with cancers known or suspected to involve mutations or dysregulation of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway components would be the most relevant patient group for future clinical efforts based on this work.
Not a fit: Patients with conditions that do not involve the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway or whose cancers are driven by unrelated mechanisms are unlikely to see direct benefit from this basic laboratory research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal new targets for drugs that either block harmful protein degradation or harness the system to remove disease-causing proteins in cancer.
How similar studies have performed: Drugs that target the proteasome (for example, bortezomib) have proven that the UPS can be a successful cancer target, but identifying many specific enzyme-substrate pairs in this pathway is a newer and less-explored area.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Harvard Medical School — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: King, Randall W — Harvard Medical School
- Study coordinator: King, Randall W
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.