Press releases

How to identify new molecular glue degrader

September 7, 2020 | FMI 

To search for new molecular glue degrader compounds, Mikolaj Slabicki, from the Ebert Lab at the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and German Cancer Research Center tested a library of thousands of pre-clinical and clinical compounds for their toxicity in various cancer cell lines. Where the toxicity coincided with a high level of ubiquitin ligase component expression, it was a good indication that this compound was working by a degradation-related mechanism. This led to the identification of a kinase inhibitor called CR8 as a molecular glue degrader of cyclin K, an activator protein of cyclin-dependent kinase 12 (CDK12). Using functional genomics approaches, he identified the other proteins needed for CR8 toxicity, and Zuzanna Kozicka and Georg Petzold from the Thomä lab reconstituted the drug-induced complex in vitro and solved its crystal structure.

Researchers discover new member of novel drug family for 'undraggable' targets

June 4, 2020 | Broad Institute Boston

Findings offer a roadmap for how to build compounds to target proteins for degradation by the cell’s recycling system.

🇩🇪 - 'Molekularer Klebstoff'

June 24, 2020 | Nationales Centrum für Tumorerkrankungen Heidelberg

Wissenschaftler haben auf der Suche nach neuen Krebsmedikamenten insbesondere wachstumsfördernde Proteine ins Visier genommen. Da diese Krebstreiber mit den vorhandenen Medikamenten oft nur schwer zu bremsen sind, werden dringend alternative Therapieansätze benötigt. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Deutschen Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) und dem Nationalen Centrum für Tumorerkrankungen (NCT) Heidelberg haben Forscher aus Boston und Basel nun den Wirkmechanismus einer neu entdeckten zellulären Krebsbremse aufgeklärt. Dieses Molekül verbindet krebstreibende Proteine mit einem Bestandteil des zellulären Entsorgungssystems. Als „molekularer Klebstoff“ sorgt es dafür, dass der Krebstreiber abgebaut und das Zellwachstum gehemmt wird. Die Forschungsergebnisse eröffnen neue Wege in der Wirkstoffentwicklung für die Behandlung von Krebs.

Symposium Writing and Editing the Ubiquitin Code

February 25, 2020 | CIC bioGUNE Bilbao

From the 24th to the 27th of February, there will take place in Bilbao three scientific events related to the biomedical research on the post-translational modifications of proteins by the ubiquitin family, organized by CIC bioGUNE, the University of the Basque Country and the French CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), together with the scientific European and Spanish scientific consortiums UbiCODE, TRIM-NET and UBIRed. During these events, the most important advances in this field will be shared and discussed.