Michael J. Bollong, PhD
Research Focus
Using high throughput chemical screening and downstream target identification experiments, we are focused on using small molecule tools to elucidate the molecular processes governing cellular identity and survival in various human disease states. Current discovery efforts are aimed at identifying compounds which (1) promote adult somatic stem cell self renewal, (2) activate cell survival and detoxification pathways (e.g., NRF1/2, MTF1), and (3) inhibit previously untargeted transcriptional regulators which control cell fate decisions.
We complement these efforts with an additional focus on developing new high throughput and molecular diversity-based methods to accelerate biological discovery. To this end, we are developing platforms for profiling inhibitor-enzyme interactions en masse, deconvoluting the cellular targets for bioactive small molecules and peptides, and leveraging the chemical diversity present in existing chemical libraries as a source of new reactivity for covalent inhibitor design.
Education
B.S., Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University of California, San Diego, 2009Ph.D., Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 2016
Selected References
Bollong MJ, Pietilä M, Pearson AD, Sarkar TR, Ahmad I, Soundararajan R, Lyssiotis CA, Mani SA, Schultz PG, Lairson LL. A vimentin binding small molecule leads to mitotic disruption in mesenchymal cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Oct 30. PMID:29087350
Bollong MJ, Yang B, Vergani N, Beyer BA, Chin EN, Zambaldo C, Wang D, Chatterjee AK, Lairson LL, Schultz PG. Small molecule-mediated inhibition of myofibroblast transdifferentiation for the treatment of fibrosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 May 2;114(18):4679-4684. PMID:28416697 *F1000 recommended
Bollong MJ, Yun H, Sherwood L, Woods AK, Lairson LL, Schultz PG. A Small Molecule Inhibits Deregulated NRF2 Transcriptional Activity in Cancer. ACS Chem Biol. 2015 Oct 16;10(10):2193-8. PMID:26270491
