Small Compound Inhibitors Targeting HPV Genome Replication

Dr. Zhou and his team will rationally design new chemical entities as novel phospho-BRD4 protein-protein interaction (PPI) modulators based on lead compounds as described in Subaim 1-3. All the newly designed molecules will be synthesized by Dr. Zhou's Medicinal Chemistry group at UTMB and then pharmacoloqically analyzed by the Chiang lab at UTSW for structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies.

For better compounds identified, his team will also scale up synthesis of selected candidates for further pharmacokinetics and in vivo animal toxicity studies to be conducted at UTSW. In addition, Dr. Zhou and his group will work closely with Dr. Chiang's lab to plan, coordinate and manage the collaborative efforts through frequent Zoom meetings and contribute to writing NIH annual progress reports and joint publications.