Cancer is a group of diseases caused by excessive cell growth. Roughly 15 million new cases of cancers are reported each year, and the disease is the cause of millions of deaths.
While there are over a 100 different types of cancers, a lot of them are caused by dysregulation of a class of proteins called kinases. Within the Folding@home consortium, the Pande, Chodera, and Shukla groups are all working together to try and understand the mechanism behind kinase activation. Ultimately we would like to translate what we learn from these simulations to the creation of new classes of specific anti-cancer drugs. In addition, with collaborators from the University of Washington, we are also investigating key mutations found in kinase patients in order to be able to predict, from patient sequences, the resulting behavior of the mutations and therefore the drugs that could be used for treatment.
![By Nephron (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons](https://foldingathome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Well-differentiated_papillary_mesothelioma_-_alt_2_-_intermed._mag-610x407.jpg)
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An allosteric glue
There has been growing interest in developing drugs that bind two or more proteins to “glue” them together. Tacrolimus (aka FK506) is a famous example. Tacrolimus is an immune-suppressant that…
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Unraveling the Secrets of G Protein Activation: A Molecular Odyssey
G proteins are essential molecular players in the intricate symphony of cellular signaling. From our vision to our sense of smell, neurotransmission to cell growth, G proteins are at the…
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Using F@H to “Drug the Undruggable”
In Project 10490, the Chodera lab is studying a small protein called KRAS, which forms a key link in growth signaling and cancer. This gene is something like a molecular…
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Understanding epigenetic cancer targets with Folding@home: Histone methyltransferases NSD1, NSD2, and NSD3
The Chodera Lab at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is now running a series of projects to study the conformational dynamics of histone methyltransferases to aid in the rational design of new small molecule…
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Using Folding@home to understand the molecular mechanism of mTOR activating mutants in kidney cancer
mTOR, a serine/threonine kinase first discovered in 1994, is a key signaling node that integrates a number of inputs to control processes such as cell growth and metabolism, among others.…
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mTOR: Projects 10491-10499
In projects 10491-10499, the Chodera lab takes a look at mTOR, a serine/threonine kinase. The MTOR gene was originally discovered in yeast in 1991 and named TOR1/2 because it was…
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Src kinase: Project 10471
In Project 10471 we at the Chodera lab are looking at Src kinase. The Src gene was first discovered as responsible for the tumorogenicity of Rous sarcoma virus. This gene…
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Fighting cancer on Folding@home: FDA approved kinase inhibitors
You may have noticed a trend in the type of proteins being simulated on Folding@home recently. A number of Folding@home labs are collaborating in an attempt to understand the role…
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New projects to help design selective inhibitors of protein methyltransferases
The Chodera lab has teamed up with Luo lab at MSKCC to study another important class of cancer targets: protein methyltransferases. These are protein-modifying enzymes that catalyze the transfer of…
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Investigating conformations accessible by Abl kinase- drug target for chronic myelogenous leukemia
Guest post by Sonya Hanson, postdoc in the Chodera lab. (Project 10472) We’re working our way through the kinase family here at the Chodera lab. You may have seen Danny’s…
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Fighting cancer on Folding@Home: EGFR
[Guest post by Daniel L. Parton of the Chodera Lab, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.] We’re about to roll out our first major F@h project on the new work server at…
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