Cowell Receives a UGA-GRU seed grant

John K. Cowell, PhD, DSc, FRCPath, received a $25K UGA-GRU seed grant for “Targeting the WASF3/NCKAP1 interaction to suppress cancer cell invasion and metastasis.”

Project Description: The WASF3 gene is an important promoter of the metastasis phenotype in many human cancers and its inactivation leads to loss of invasion and metastasis. Critical protein-protein interactions have been identified that are required for WASF3 function. This project uses stapled peptides to disrupt critical protein-protein interactions between WASF3 and NCKAP1 in an attempt to suppress the invasion and metastasis phenotypes. Devising a means to suppress metastasis could significantly impact on survival of cancer patients.