Breakthrough at Dundee University

University of Dundee researchers have shown that it is possible to destroy an ‘undruggable’ protein known to play a role in cancer, raising the possibility of a new therapeutic approach to the disease.

A team from Dundee’s School of Life Sciences, led by Dr Gopal Sapkota (pictured), had previously engineered the Affinity-directed PROtein Missile (AdPROM) system that allows for the efficient and rapid degradation of specific target proteins in cells. Being able to degrade intracellular disease-causing proteins offers a unique opportunity for therapeutic intervention but it was not known whether these ‘protein missiles’ would be able to destroy K-Ras.

In two papers, published in Cell Chemical Biology, the Dundee team have shown, for the first time, that it is possible to target K-Ras for degradation. The use of this technology in humans remains some way off, but Dr Sapkota now expects rapid progress in chemical degraders of K-Ras over the next few years.