Institute of Pharmacy partners with leading research centers to develop innovative cancer treatments

The project has funded research institutions and universities from five countries across three continents (Armenia, Poland, Italy, the USA, and Australia). Yerevan State University, University of Opole (Poland), and the Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging at the National Research Council of Naples (Italy) are beneficiary partners, while Coastal Carolina University (USA) and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia) are associated partners.

The research aims to broaden and deepen the knowledge of the purine de novo biosynthetic pathway in healthy and cancer cells and improve cancer treatment by inhibiting the homo-dimerisation process of the ATIC enzyme. ATIC (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase/inosine 5'-monophosphate cyclohydrolase) catalyzes the last two steps of the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway, which is very intense in the uncontrolled cell division characteristic of tumor development. As part of the project, new peptidomimetics with therapeutic potential will be developed.

The research will be carried out in collaborating centers with complementary specialization in bioinformatics, biology, organic chemistry, biophysics and medicine/health sciences. This will ensure the success of this project and help in the fight against one of mankind's greatest health problems - cancer.

The project started on November 1, 2024, and will last for 48 months.

Mutual secondments are planned throughout the 48 months of the project's implementation.

Computational research will be carried out at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to design new inhibitors of the ATIC enzyme. 

Peptide analogs will be synthesized at YSU Institute of Pharmacy as potential inhibitors of the ATIC enzyme.

Spectroscopic studies on the binding potential of the newly synthesized compounds to key biomedical targets will be conducted at the Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging, the National Research Council in Naples.

The determination of the cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds on model normal cells and selected cancer cell lines, as well as the interactions of the synthesized compounds with the ATIC protein and ATIC dimer dissociation, will be conducted at the University of Opole.

The in vivo studies of the synthesized compounds on Drosophila melanogaster will be carried out at Coastal Carolina University.

The most important and measurable goal of this project is also the deepening of collaboration between the partner organizations and the development of the individual scientists involved in the project, who will acquire new knowledge and soft skills during the secondments and joint meetings.