TACTIC: New project in cancer research
Finding the right switches
- von Birte Vierjahn
- 16.11.2023
Investigating the genetic causes of cancer and fighting them with new drugs: To this end, German Cancer Aid is funding the TACTIC* project until 2028 with 11.8 million euros. A key element of the project: to cover all aspects of drug development, cancer research and drug development laboratories across Germany are joining forces to form a national center. Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen are significantly involved in TACTIC.
The research consortium jointly led by the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Prof. Dr. Christian Reinhardt, and the Universities of Frankfurt and Dortmund plans to specifically combat the genetic causes of cancer with newly developed active substances. In simple terms, transcription is a process in the cell nucleus in which genetic information is copied from our DNA and then used to build proteins. The researchers at TACTIC now aim to influence the transcription of those genes that are responsible for the development of cancer. However, it is crucial that other important transcription processes are not impaired in the process.
Within the TACTIC project, experts and laboratories in chemical biology, drug discovery and oncology are joining forces across Germany to form a national center. The consortium thus covers all steps of drug development, from screening and structural biology to medicinal chemistry and toxicological studies. The objective is to find promising active substances that can be further developed into drugs for clinical use.
* TACTIC: Targeting Transcriptional Addiction in Cancer
Further Information:
Prof. Dr. Christian Reinhardt, Director of the Clinic for Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Essen University Hospital, +49 201/723-2413, christian.reinhardt@uk-essen.de
Editors:
Birte Vierjahn, +49 203/37 9-2427, birte.vierjahn@uni-due.de
Martin Rolshoven, +49 201/723-6274, martin.rolshoven@uk-essen.de