The Chemical and Structural Biology (CSB) Program of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center(CFCCC) seeks to bring UC Irvine?s considerable strengths in synthetic chemistry, structural biology, analyticalchemistry and related areas to bear on anti-cancer research. These science areas tend to be pursued assingle laboratory efforts. Thus, a major thrust of the CSB program is building collaborations and bridgesbetween CSB researchers and cancer biologists and clinicians. In addition to the traditional methods ofdeveloping collaborations (e.g., topical retreats and symposia), the CSB leadership runs a very successfulmolecular matchmaking service, bringing together synthetic chemists, structural biologists and biologists withinteresting small molecules. Notable successes of the matchmaking service include a new class of anti-nutrienttransporter compounds with exciting anti-cancer activities in vitro and in animal models.Through its activities, the CFCCC directly contributes to the success of the anti-cancer research pursued byCSB members. For example, neuronal nitric oxide synthase emerged as a target for melanoma, andconnections forged by the CFCCC led quickly to experiments with highly specific nNOS inhibitors. Similarly,success in the area of analytical chemistry connecting biological recognition with electronics led to connectionswith prostate and bladder cancer physicians to guide experiments leading to a clinical trial. The CFCCC alsoprovides pilot project funding, which help initiate studies between a synthetic chemist and biologist leading tonew types of anti-breast cancer compounds. The CSB leadership also helps to expand the research of itsmembers into cancer-related areas; for example, researchers with a promising new experimental technique formapping protein-protein interactions with proteomics MS were introduced to different potential collaboratorsopening new doors and avenues of research. Thus, the CSB program leverages existing efforts and strengthsto amplify the quantity and quality of anti-cancer research taking place at UC Irvine.Membership: 22 Members from 8 DepartmentsFunding: $459,979 NCI (Totals); $4,141,394 Other Peer-Reviewed (Totals)Publications: 158 Publications, 16% Inter-programmatic; 6% Intra-programmatic
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