Development of a Small-Molecule Inhibitor for USP48

Date Created:

2025-08-09

Course Title:

Professor:

Michael Darnowski and Sara Buhrlage

About Paper:

Acute myeloid leukemia is difficult to treat, and many patients receive hypomethylating agents that work only modestly on their own. This project follows a chemical clue: knocking out USP48 can make leukemia cells more sensitive to those drugs. The team is building and testing small-molecule USP48 inhibitors, using structure-activity studies and fluorescence assays to learn which chemical features improve potency. If the chemistry keeps improving, USP48 inhibition could become part of a smarter combination strategy for AML. Source: 2025 Harvard Summer Undergraduate Research Village Abstract Book

Topics:

acute myeloid leukemia, USP48, chemical biology, deubiquitinating enzymes

Co-authors:

@michaeldarnowski99 , @sarabuhrlage100