Medicinal Chemistry Section

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Research Scientists

  • Ana B. García
  • Cristina Ana Gómez
  • Esther González
  • Sonsoles Rodríguez
  • Terry Pascal Tomakinian
  • Carmen Varela

The Medicinal Chemistry Section is part of the multidisciplinary Experimental Therapeutics Programme (ETP) focused on early drug discovery activities. ETP is integrated into the CNIO’s structure, and acts as a bridge between basic research groups in cancer biology and the pharmaceutical industry, with the aim of transferring the results obtained in basic research laboratories to products, potential drugs that help to understand the biology of cancer, or the development of new therapies. The Section deals with the design, synthesis, and optimisation of compounds that are then characterised in the Biology Section of ETP, in order to evaluate their potency in biological targets in vitro and in vivo and ultimately to demonstrate their efficacy and mechanism of action in animal models (in vivo proof-of-concept). As a complementary strategy to the classic inhibitors, we also contemplate the degradation of particular targets using different chemical approaches such as the use of PROTACs. Additionally, we have entered the field of Chemical Biology in order to discover and identify novel drugs and targets from phenotypic screenings. In this regard, we contribute by synthesising high quality chemical tools needed for interrogating the observed phenotype.

Publications

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