Research/key-initiatives/ras/screens-assays

RAS Screens and Assays at FNLCR

A primary goal of the RAS Initiative at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) is to develop assays for RAS activity, localization, and signaling and adapt those assays so they can be used for finding new drug candidates. The assays are of two broad types: in vitro assays that use purified proteins and in vivo assays that use live cells. Adapting assays for use in screening campaigns requires that all aspects of each assay be thoroughly understood and controlled, so that tens or hundreds of thousands of data points can be confidently assessed. The end products are highly validated screening protocols that can be applied by partner organizations to their own libraries of small molecules or natural products.

RAS Image-Based Screens

This laboratory develops screens based on live cell imaging of labeled RAS molecules.

RAS Drug Discovery

This group has developed and validated in vitro and in vivo assays suitable for screening large libraries of candidate drug compounds.