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 (University 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.