Project description
Novel targeted drugs for acute myeloid leukaemia
Acute myeloid leukaemia is a type of blood cancer characterised by poor survival rates and therapy resistance. While genetic mutations have traditionally been seen as the main cause of this resistance, emerging evidence suggests that cancer cells can change various signalling pathways to evade treatment before mutations even arise. Therefore, targeting these signalling adaptations represents a promising new therapeutic strategy. The ERC-funded LeukemiaBlock project focuses on GAB1, a key protein that coordinates multiple cancer-promoting signalling pathways. The project builds on prior ERC-funded research and aims to develop next-generation GAB1 inhibitors, establish preclinical validation assays and identify responsive cancer types. The project will also assess market potential and secure industry partnerships to facilitate clinical translation.
Objective
The emergence of therapy resistance and adaptation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains a major challenge, leading to treatment failure and mortality. We and others have provided experimental evidence supporting novel idea that adaptation and resistance to therapy could be in early stages driven by signaling pathway rewiring, rather than genetic mutations. This project aims to advance our novel GAB1 inhibitors, targeting the adaptor protein GAB1- a key regulator of multiple signaling pathways implicated in therapy resistance. Within our past ERC StG grant “Signaling Propensity in the Microenvironment of B Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia” (2019–24), we demonstrated that GAB1 inhibition is effective in the single agent format, and also counteracts resistance in various hematologic malignancies, including highly aggressive AML (our US patent 11,648,255B2). Inhibiting GAB1 is particularly challenging due to its role as a docking protein, requiring innovative drug design distinct from conventional kinase inhibitors. This PoC project has five key objectives: (i) develop and patent a 2nd-generation GAB1 inhibitors, (ii) establish robust biochemical and biological assays for therapeutic evaluation, (iii) identify malignancies responsive to GAB1 inhibition and generate robust pre-clinical data, (iv) elucidate GAB1-mediated signaling modulation in cancer, and (v) assess market potential, formulate a business plan, and secure industry partnerships. Successful execution will enable further pre-clinical development of this docking protein inhibitor and facilitate clinical translation of our lead compound.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology leukemia
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
601 77 Brno
Czechia
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.