Development of molecular glues to inhibit KRAS by nucleo-cytoplasmic sequestration (molGluRAS2)

The project at a glance

Start date:

01 Jul 2024
Duration in months:

36
Funding:

FNR
Principal Investigator(s):

Daniel ABANKWA

About

The KRAS oncogene is the most frequently mutated oncogene and a well-established cancer driver. Only in 2021/22 were the first direct KRAS inhibitors approved, which are however restricted in their application to the subgroup of KRAS-G12C mutant lung cancer cases. In this project, we will develop ‘molecular glues’, small molecules, which ‘glue’ KRAS to a protein that would keep it in an inactive state. To this end an international consortium between Profs. Ismail (KU Leuven, BE) and Abankwa (8xav�� of Luxembourg, LU) and the drug development company CD3 in Leuven, Belgium is formed under the FNR-FWO-Inter scheme. The collaborators have highly complementary research expertise in structural-biochemistry, cancer cell biology and drug development, respectively. We expect to obtain by the end of this project a broadly applicable KRAS inhibitor prototype with well-characterized biological effects.