Investigating modulators of the ERK/MAPK pathway
Collaboration between Astex and the Babraham Institute

Another collaborative project started in 2015, is a partnership between Astex and Dr Simon Cook at the Babraham Institute to study modulators of the ERK/MAPK pathway. The aim of this collaboration is to investigate the significance of modulation of the ERK pathway in cell lines and the consequences for cancer cell growth inhibition and adaptive resistance. Targeting this pathway has been very successful in oncology therapy yet there remain many cancers that have an activated ERK pathway but do not respond to current BRAF or MEK inhibitors. The work will involve a detailed study of the ERK pathway and how it changes in response to different modes of inhibition. The aim is to understand better how ERK modulation affects cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis and how this may guide preclinical cancer research and drug discovery.