Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Miami received $368,695 in federal funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853) for a project grant awarded June 1, 2026, with completion targeted for May 31, 2027. The award supports research to identify and develop small-molecule inhibitors targeting arginyltransferase 1 (ATE1), a protein modification enzyme implicated in neuronal cell death following spinal cord injury (SCI). The research team, led by Dr. Fangliang Zhang with co-investigators including Dr. Timothy Spicer, Dr. Aaron Smith, and supporting specialists, will optimize a dual-fluorescence cell-based reporter platform for high-throughput screening and apply it to screen approximately 645,000 compounds from a small-molecule library to identify candidate ATE1 inhibitors.

The deliverables encompass assay development and optimization during the initial research phase, followed by large-scale compound screening and validation of lead candidates through biochemical assays, binding specificity studies, and pharmacologic profiling in spinal cord injury-relevant cell models using both mouse and human motor neurons. The ultimate objective is to identify drug-like ATE1 inhibitor candidates suitable for therapeutic development in spinal cord injury treatment, progressing from animal models toward potential human clinical application. The project leverages complementary expertise across assay development, high-throughput screening, medicinal chemistry, and protein characterization to advance toward clinically viable neuroprotective therapeutics.