Anchored Signalling

The aim of the project is to develop novel, proprietary drugs for the treatment of DI and as a co-medication with tolvaptan for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

Compounds are being generated by TU Berlin chemists and their efficacy in vitro, in cell culture and in animal models of DI need to be defined in the project. This includes biochemistry, immunofluorescence microscopy, mouse and rat experiments, and target validation (mass spectrometric approaches, RNAi, RNA-seq). Much needs hands-on experiments and parts need to be performed in cooperation with MDC genomics and proteomics core facilities and Charité nephrologists.

The Anchored Signalling group is an international life science group with members from Romania, Ukraine, China, South Korea – and Germany. Altogether, we are usually around 10 members and the group is nationally and internationally very well interconnected as indicated by multinational author lists on publications and participation in national and international joint grants.

A major goal of the project is to develop proprietary compounds on the basis of the chemical structure of fluconazole and to develop them towards drug candidates for the treatment of DI and conditions characterised by an excessive loss of water. This makes use of established cooperation with medicinal chemists of the TU Berlin and a former head of drug development programs from the pharmaceutical industry to develop and optimise novel compounds.

Further interest is in the commercialisation of such compounds, which requires the acquisition of venture capital and funding from public sources. Thus, we have a strong interest in establishing any intersectoral connection needed for drug development. We have tight connections with Charité nephrologists and nephrologists at the University of Southern Denmark.