About the project
The aim of this project is to develop cyclic peptide inhibitors targeting a protein–protein interaction that is strongly implicated in the development and progression of tumours. In this project, we aim to advance the development of these inhibitors towards clinical application.
Mutant Rat Sarcoma (RAS) proteins drive numerous cancers, with their inhibition shown to have therapeutic potential in several tumour types. The majority of RAS inhibitors currently in development target the G12C KRAS mutant through a covalent inhibition mechanism, which limits their use to a small subset of cancers.
Professor Tavassoli has used an in-house genetically-encoded library of cyclic peptides to identify several cyclic peptides that inhibit the interaction of RAS proteins with their affectors, and therefore inhibit downstream signalling in cancer cells.
The project will be conducted under the supervision of Professor Tavassoli, utilising the advanced multidisciplinary laboratories, facilities, and equipment at the University of Southampton. It also includes an industrial placement at Curve Therapeutics.
In addition to the medicinal chemistry core of this project, the project will provide training in a variety of chemical biology techniques such as recombinant protein-expression and purification, and biochemical and cell-based assays.
