Research Interest
Phosphatases Catalyse
In contrast to kinases, phosphatases catalyse the hydrolysis of phosphate esters from phospho-proteins. As the counterpart to kinases, they too are involved in many cell signalling pathways but they have been much less explored than kinases particular in terms of inhibition.
Although some complex natural products are known to inhibit some types of phosphatase, these compounds are not suitable as drugs for many reasons. We are interested in a metallophosphatase, PPM1D, that is involved in p53 regulation and DNA damage response.
We have invented a druglike chemical series which shows real promise as a PPM1D inhibitor and we are currently exploring the SAR of this series as well as working to understand the cellular effects of these compounds.
Protein/Protein Interactions
Multi-protein complexes are involved in many of the key processes in cells and one method to interfere with such processes would be to use small molecules to prevent these complexes forming.
