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Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is the most commonly mutated gene in familial Parkinson’s disease (PD) and is also linked to its idiopathic form. LRRK2 is proposed to function in membrane trafficking and co-localizes with microtubules. Despite LRRK2’s fundamental importance for understanding and treating PD, there is limited structural information on it.
SGC Director, Aled Edwards, speaks to The Future Economy on why Open Science is important in fighting COVID-19, and other related questions, in their series "The COVID-19 Rebound". You can see the full interview here: https://thefutureeconomy.ca/interviews/aled-edwards/
We determined the structure of the TASK-1 potassium ion channel. Mutations in TASK-1 are linked to pulmonary arterial hypertension.
TASK-1 has an unusual X-gate, consisting of two crossed helices. This type of gate is not present in related potassium channels and explains the low activity of TASK-1. We also crystallised TASK-1 in complex with inhibitors and found that they bind in the central cavity, trapped by the X-gate.
This work is a collaboration with Bayer AG and University of Marburg.
(Chapel Hill, N.C.— April 7, 2020) — Today, the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Eshelman Institute for Innovation, announce the launch of the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Development Initiative (READDI), a global organization formed to discover and develop drugs to put “on the shelf” for clinical trial testing in anticipation of future viral pandemics.
Launch of a New Phase 2 Clinical Trial “STOPFOP”
The Saracatinib trial to prevent Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (STOPFOP) will begin recruitment in March 2020.
February 28, 2020
The Chordoma Foundation (CF) and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (MFCR) announced today a two-year, $1.4M partnership with a team of researchers at three institutions to develop new treatments for chordoma, a rare and difficult-to-treat bone cancer. The researchers will focus on creating the first drugs to inhibit a protein known as brachyury.
Photo: CHERYL ARROWSMITH AND LEVON HALABELIAN
December 2, 2019 (Toronto)
The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a grant expected to total $37.5 million over five years to establish the Open-AD Drug Discovery Center. Led by Emory University, the Center includes investigators at Sage Bionetworks, Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), Stanford University, Oxford University, and University of North Carolina.
A new type of drug that targets a genetic weakness in an untreatable childhood brain cancer could become the first ever treatment designed to target the disease.
The prototype treatment could also offer hope for patients with the rare and devastating ‘stone man syndrome’ – in which muscles and ligaments turn to bone.
Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, led research with an international team of colleagues, finding that the new drug class can kill brain cancer cells with mutations in the ACVR1 gene and shrink tumours in mice.
