Project

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Fall 2022 challenge: winner

Developing Selective VRK1 Inhibitors to Treat High-grade Gliomas

Jonathan So, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cambridge, United States

We used the Inspirator tool and SeeSAR to generate an analogue of a candidate VRK1 inhibitor. We then synthesized and tested this analogue in kinase assays. The goal is to develop VRK1 specific inhibitors. As this analogue that was synthesized did not perform as predicted, we will use the Inspirator tool again to generate analogues of a different candidate VRK1 inhibitor. These will again be syntheized and tested in our in vitro kinase assay.
After 1 year, Jonathan has achieved the following goals:
  1. We used the Inspirator tool and SeeSAR to generate an analogue of a candidate VRK1 inhibitor. Predicted EC50 is improved from uM to the nM range.
  2. We synthesized this novel analogue.
  3. The analogue was tested in in vitro kinase assay of VRK1 and VRK2 activity