# Molecular Pharmacology Lab

> **NIH NIH N01** · LEIDOS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, INC. · 2020 · $1,733,779

## Abstract

This laboratory uses retinoic acid receptor (RAR, retinoid) and retinoid X receptor (RXR, rexinoid) agonists or antagonists and other agents as discovery tools to uncover critical antineoplastic pathways. The laboratory played a key role in identifying retinoid-based differentiation therapy as a successful (and FDA-approved) way to combat acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), an early example of targeted cancer therapy. This team cloned the etiologic fusion protein, PML/RARα, and developed the companion diagnostic genetic assay for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL). Currently, they are exploring the retinoid-regulated deubiquitinase USP18 and how retinoids cooperate in immune-based therapy. Recently, they discovered a pathway called anaphase catastrophe that can target aneuploid cancers (a hallmark of cancer) while sparing normal cells. Signals that trigger anaphase catastrophe are now under intensive study.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10273230
- **Project number:** 75N91019D00024-0-759102000003-16
- **Recipient organization:** LEIDOS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** LEONARD FREEDMAN
- **Activity code:** N01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,733,779
- **Award type:** —
- **Project period:** 2020-08-31 → 2021-08-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10273230

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10273230, Molecular Pharmacology Lab (75N91019D00024-0-759102000003-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10273230. Licensed CC0.

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