Federal Project Grant Award Summary

New York Institute of Technology received a $204,907 Project Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030. The award funds research to design, synthesize, and biologically evaluate potent and selective pyruvate carboxylase (PC) inhibitors for studying cancer cell metabolism. PC serves a critical role in cancer cell energy production and biosynthesis by converting pyruvate to oxaloacetate, replenishing tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates essential for cellular survival under nutrient-limiting conditions. The research employs a structure-based drug discovery approach utilizing two complementary strategies: developing an extended structure-activity relationship based on an existing scaffold with low millimolar affinity against PC, and chemically exploiting weak allosteric PC inhibitors (aspartate and glutamate) to generate new inhibitor compounds.

This project addresses a significant gap in cancer research by developing a new pharmacological toolkit to better understand cancer cell metabolic switching and facilitate the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents. The research will generate potent and selective small molecule inhibitors that can elucidate PC's role in cancer metabolism, contributing to the foundational knowledge necessary for advancing targeted cancer therapies. The work is performed at NYIT's Westbury, New York campus and supports NIGMS's mission of funding basic research that increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.