Vaclav Nemec
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vnemec.bsky.social
Vaclav Nemec
@vnemec.bsky.social
My expertise lies in the creative design of small molecules and synthetic strategies to tackle complex challenges in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry and I thrive on the intellectual challenge of deconstructing complex problems in chemical biology
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Workflow for E3 Ligase Ligand Validation for PROTAC Development | ACS Chemical Biology pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Workflow for E3 Ligase Ligand Validation for PROTAC Development
Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have gained considerable attention as a new modality in drug discovery. The development of PROTACs has been mainly focused on using CRBN (Cereblon) and VHL (Von Hippel-Lindau ligase) E3 ligase ligands. However, the considerable size of the human E3 ligase family, newly developed E3 ligase ligands, and the favorable druggability of some E3 ligase families hold the promise that novel degraders with unique pharmacological properties will be designed in the future using this large E3 ligase space. Here, we developed a workflow aiming to improve and streamline the evaluation of E3 ligase ligand efficiency for PROTAC development and the assessment of the corresponding “degradable” target space using broad-spectrum kinase inhibitors and the well-established VHL ligand VH032 as a validation system. Our study revealed VH032 linker attachment points that are highly efficient for kinase degradation as well as some of the pitfalls when using protein degradation as a readout. For instance, cytotoxicity was identified as a major mechanism leading to PROTAC- and VHL-independent kinase degradation. The combination of E3 ligase ligand negative controls, competition by kinase parent compounds, and neddylation and proteasome inhibitors was essential to distinguish between VHL-dependent and -independent kinase degradation events. We share here the findings and limitations of our study and hope that this study will provide guidance for future evaluations of new E3 ligase ligand systems for degrader development.
pubs.acs.org
🧬 Life Science Spotlight 💊

TP53 is mutated in 37% of cancers, contributing to 46% of cancer deaths.Targeting p53 has been in the focus of cancer research for decades.

Researchers from Broad Institute, Harvard University and Dana-Farber came up with a new strategy:

www.linkedin.com/posts/v%C3%A...
November 20, 2025 at 2:53 PM
🧬 Life Science Spotlight 💊
𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂-𝐂 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?!

Until now, direct activation of the C─O bond was an unresolved problem, mainly due to high dissociation energy (approximately 96 kcal/mol).

Summary of the paper you can find here:
www.linkedin.com/posts/v%C3%A...
#organicsynthesis #photocatalysis #drugdiscovery | Václav Němec
🧬 Life Science Spotlight 💊 𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂-𝐂 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?! Until now, direct activation of the C─O bond was an unresolved problem, mainly due to high dissociation energy (...
www.linkedin.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:32 PM
🧬 Life Science Spotlight 💊

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐊𝐑𝐀𝐒

Teams of Alessio Ciulli, Kirsten McAulay and Peter Ettmayer, just reported ACBI4, a panKRAS degrader capable of targeting the main cancer-relevant KRAS variants.

For more, see my summary:
www.linkedin.com/posts/v%C3%A...
November 1, 2025 at 2:16 PM
𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 🎯

By creating enzyme-responsive nanoparticles that self-assemble in tumors and chemically "click" with an arsenic payload, scientists achieved complete tumor eradication and durable immune memory.

www.linkedin.com/posts/v%C3%A...
October 15, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Workflow for E3 Ligase Ligand Validation for PROTAC Development | ACS Chemical Biology pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Workflow for E3 Ligase Ligand Validation for PROTAC Development
Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have gained considerable attention as a new modality in drug discovery. The development of PROTACs has been mainly focused on using CRBN (Cereblon) and VHL (Von Hippel-Lindau ligase) E3 ligase ligands. However, the considerable size of the human E3 ligase family, newly developed E3 ligase ligands, and the favorable druggability of some E3 ligase families hold the promise that novel degraders with unique pharmacological properties will be designed in the future using this large E3 ligase space. Here, we developed a workflow aiming to improve and streamline the evaluation of E3 ligase ligand efficiency for PROTAC development and the assessment of the corresponding “degradable” target space using broad-spectrum kinase inhibitors and the well-established VHL ligand VH032 as a validation system. Our study revealed VH032 linker attachment points that are highly efficient for kinase degradation as well as some of the pitfalls when using protein degradation as a readout. For instance, cytotoxicity was identified as a major mechanism leading to PROTAC- and VHL-independent kinase degradation. The combination of E3 ligase ligand negative controls, competition by kinase parent compounds, and neddylation and proteasome inhibitors was essential to distinguish between VHL-dependent and -independent kinase degradation events. We share here the findings and limitations of our study and hope that this study will provide guidance for future evaluations of new E3 ligase ligand systems for degrader development.
pubs.acs.org
October 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM