Development of small molecule inhibitors of ULK1

National Center For Advancing Translational Sciences

Investigators

Abstract

Several types of cancers, like pancreatic cancer, have been shown to be particularly dependent on autophagy for growth and survival. This project aims to develop potent, selective, and bioavailable small molecule inhibitors of ULK1, an enzyme that initiates autophagy, to enable translation of the hypothesis: autophagy inhibition via ULK1 is a valid therapeutic approach for pancreatic cancer. During this period, based on the previous work where the collaborative team performed hit-to-lead optimization the collaborator is trying to publish a paper (Selective inhibitors of autophagy reveal new link between the cell cycle and autophagy and suggest novel synergistic drug strategies) that summarizes the cell biology of autophagy inhibition, including with ULK100, a standard we synthesized.