The team of Dr. Guy Sauvageau at the Université de Montréal’s Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) made an unprecedented breakthrough thanks to the discovery of a new molecule that expands stem cells from umbilical cord blood.The use of this molecule, designed and synthesized by the chemists of Dr. Anne Marinier’s team at IRIC, will significantly increase the availability of compatible cord blood for treating patients with illnesses like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. For many patients this therapy constitutes a treatment of last resort.
Scientific advances such as this one are the result of the collaborative efforts of multi-disciplinary teams involved in the research. Ph.D. student Iman Farès and research officer Jalila Chagraoui, with the help of the members of the Screening Core Facility directed by Jean Duchaine, developed the biological test, screened the IRIC library of compounds and identified the starting small molecule. Chemists Yves Gareau, Stéphane Gingras and Réjean Ruel of IRIC’s Medicinal Chemistry team, headed by Dr. Anne Marinier, then designed the molecule UM171 by optimization of the starting molecule and developed a practical synthesis for its production. The molecule was named UM171 in honor of the Université de Montréal and the work has been published in the prestigious journal Science. The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, Héma-Québec and the Drug Discovery and Research Commercialization unit (IRICoR) of IRIC were also invaluable collaborators in contributing to bring this discovery to fruition.
Read the report in Québec Science. Click here.
See the Québec Science video explaining the discovery. Click here.