CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & MADISON, Wis. — Immuto Scientific has entered into a research collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to identify new, disease-specific therapeutic targets in colorectal cancer, using Immuto’s structural surfaceomics platform and patient-derived cancer models developed at the university.
The multi-year collaboration will focus on microsatellite stable colorectal cancer, a common form of the disease that has proven difficult to treat with existing targeted therapies. Researchers at UW–Madison will provide Immuto with access to a collection of well-characterized patient-derived organoid models, allowing the company to study tumor biology in a setting that closely reflects human disease.
The work is being led at the University of Wisconsin–Madison by Dustin Deming, M.D., a professor of medicine and a specialist in colorectal cancer who is also a member of the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Immuto will apply its high-resolution structural proteomics and AI-based analytics to examine differences in the structure of cell-surface proteins between cancerous and normal tissues.
“Our work with Dr. Deming and the University of Wisconsin–Madison represents an exceptional opportunity to study colorectal cancer in a clinically relevant form,” said Faraz A. Choudhury, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Immuto Scientific. “By integrating patient-derived models with our structural surfaceomics platform, we can reveal previously unseen, disease-specific surface structures for drug targets that open new possibilities for therapeutic intervention.”
Through the collaboration, Immuto aims to identify what it calls disease-specific surface protein conformations, or SPCs, which represent a potential new class of therapeutic targets. These targets are based on three-dimensional structural differences in proteins found on the surface of cancer cells, rather than changes detected through traditional genomic or proteomic approaches.
“Our collection of patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids enables exploration of tumor biology and therapeutic vulnerabilities in ways that traditional models cannot,” Deming said. “Through this collaboration with Immuto Scientific, we aim to identify new molecular targets that may ultimately improve treatment options for patients.”
The agreement adds to Immuto Scientific’s broader effort to work with academic and industry partners to expand the search for cancer targets that may be missed by conventional discovery methods. The company’s platform combines live-cell structural proteomics with AI-driven analysis to map the architecture of the cell-surface proteome and identify previously unexplored opportunities for drug development.
