Rewiring Cancer Targets Through Proteome-Wide Discovery of Molecular Glues
Explore how molecular glues can rewire protein interactions to target cancer. Develop proteomic and data-driven methods to discover new drug modalities across the entire proteome.
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Project Description
Project Overview
Molecular glues are small molecules that rewire cellular interaction networks by stabilizing or inducing protein-protein interactions, allowing selective targeting of proteins previously considered undruggable. This project aims to establish a new discovery platform, PRISM, to map such interactions throughout the proteome and uncover new therapeutic modalities.
What You Will Do
The student will develop high-throughput proteomic workflows to identify ternary complexes and validate molecular glue activity using biophysical and cellular assays. They will link the induced interactions to functional outcomes in disease-relevant models, applying machine learning to predict and design novel molecular glues.
Expected Outcomes
The research will generate a unique dataset of glueable protein-protein interactions and develop methods to predict molecular glues, providing new avenues for translational drug discovery and potential cancer therapies.
Why This Matters
By enabling selective modulation of challenging biological targets, molecular glues could revolutionize drug discovery and cancer treatment, offering mechanisms beyond conventional inhibitors like degradation, sequestration, and transcriptional control.
Entry Requirements
Eligibility
Supervisor Profile
Professor Ed Tate is a leading figure in chemical biology at Imperial College London. His research focuses on developing chemical tools to probe biological systems, emphasizing innovative approaches to drug discovery. He has extensive expertise in proteomics, molecular glues, and targeted protein degradation, contributing significantly to understanding complex protein networks in disease.