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NOBEL PRIZE 2026

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NIHNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCESR01

Developing a Nanopore Tweezer Toolkit for Analyzing Kinase Structural Dynamics and Screening Allosteric Inhibitors

Active
Institution
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST, MA
Principal investigator
Min Chen
Funding
$397K
Duration
2025–2029
Open portfolio

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Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT Protein nanopores are powerful sensors that enable a new class of single-molecule measurements, with applications ranging from fundamental science to commercial DNA sequencing. Our focus is on developing and applying novel nanopore approaches to tackle challenges in protein analysis, ultimately improving disease diagnostics and therapeutics. In this project, we are creating innovative nanopore tweezers capable of real-time tracking kinase movements triggered by ligand or inhibitor binding at a 100-microsecond resolution for tens of minutes at the single-molecule level. This work will generate comprehensive energetic maps of the conformational states of disease-associated kinases during substrate binding, catalytic activity, allosteric regulation, and inhibition. Overall, this study will introduce new tools and opportunities for studying structural dynamics, single-molecule enzymology, drug discovery, and personalized precision medicine.

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R01NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCESSpecial Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 MCST-J (85)]enzymologyallostericstructural dynamicssingle-moleculediagnostics therapeuticsdeveloping applyingnanoporekinase

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