Cancer often becomes resistant to treatment due to the protein CDK8, which helps reprogram cancer cells. Traditional inhibitors fail because CDK8 still acts as a structural scaffold. This research develops targeted degraders that use the cell’s recycling system to eliminate CDK8 entirely, preventing resistance and improving future cancer therapies.

This research targets chronic lymphocytic leukemia relapse by focusing on Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK), a key cancer-driving protein that often mutates and becomes drug-resistant. Using “molecular glues,” the project aims to degrade BTK—even when mutated—offering a new therapeutic strategy that could overcome resistance and improve outcomes for (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) CLL and other BTK-dependent cancers.