Timeframe: 2025 – 2027
Goal: Investigate ways to therapeutically target DNAJ-PKAc
Principal Investigators: John Scott, PhD
Study overview: Before new drugs can move forward into clinical development, scientists must confirm that they work as intended. This effort focuses on enabling this critical step for fibrolamellar carcinoma — validating and understanding how potential drugs interact with the cancer-driving protein DNAJ-PKAc. This work will be led by Dr. John Scott, a world-renowned expert in PKA biochemistry with deep experience in FLC research. His team will study the properties of promising compounds that could potentially become treatments for FLC and determine how they act inside cells.
The plan’s key goals include measuring the activity, potency, and selectivity of kinase modulator compounds, and testing drug combinations to see how they affect cancer cell growth and survival in models of fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC).