Grant: Operating Grant

Our research focuses on a class of membrane receptor, for molecules called prostaglandins involved in premature birth and some forms of cancer (e.g. colorectal, endometrial). Pharmacological therapies targeting these receptors would greatly reduce the personal and socio-economical burden associated with these problems. Our research has unveiled the properties of a new class of drugs that act in an unconventional way on these receptors to selectively affect the response of the natural hormone. We propose to characterize the functional domains of these receptors, known as "allosteric" sites, targeted by our newly discovered compounds, to iteratively generate more selective and efficacious drugs. Our research should have great impact on managing pre-term labour, which is associated with more than 75% of neonate mortality, as well as in the treatment of endometrial and colon cancers which have a 20% rate in mortality among women, and represent the second leading cause of cancer-related death among Canadians, respectively.