# Ubiquitin pathway modulators for treating pancreatitis

> **NIH NIH R43** · PROGENRA, INC. · 2024 · $269,622

## Abstract

New approaches are needed to treat acute and chronic pancreatitis which is a major health problem in the US.
One novel approach is to promote mitochondrial health to protect pancreas from damages caused by various
stressors. We have identified important roles for mitophagy in resistance to pancreatitis. These new findings, in
the setting of the urgent medical need for new approaches to treat pancreatitis, led to this new SBIR application
to fully leverage prior discoveries. Ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is a key regulator of autophagic clearance
of damaged mitochondria. As such, activation of ubiquitin pathway enzyme critically involved in promoting
mitochondrial health is expected to have therapeutic effects. Pogenra’s UbiProTM drug discovery platform was
employed to discover novel, potent and selective activators of UPS enzymes. We demonstrated that UPS
activator inhibited pancreatitis in vivo. In this Phase I grant, we propose to evaluate these novel molecules for
their efficacy in cellular and animal models of acute and chronic pancreatitis and perform mechanism of action
studies. The ultimate commercial goal of this project is the development of small molecule UPS activators as
novel drugs that could treat pancreatitis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10824472
- **Project number:** 1R43DK138712-01
- **Recipient organization:** PROGENRA, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Kumar Suresh
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $269,622
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-20 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10824472

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10824472, Ubiquitin pathway modulators for treating pancreatitis (1R43DK138712-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10824472. Licensed CC0.

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