# Molecular Pharmacology Lab

> **NIH NIH N01** · LEIDOS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, INC. · 2024 · $872,000

## 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:** 11219753
- **Project number:** 75N91019D00024-0-759102400011-9
- **Recipient organization:** LEIDOS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** lynn briscoe
- **Activity code:** N01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $872,000
- **Award type:** —
- **Project period:** 2024-09-28 → 2025-08-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11219753

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11219753, Molecular Pharmacology Lab (75N91019D00024-0-759102400011-9). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11219753. Licensed CC0.

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