The discovery could lead to novel treatments that efficiently eliminate blood cancer cells in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), without harming healthy blood cells. Researchers have discovered how a protein in the body plays a key role in AML -- an aggressive cancer of white blood cells with very poor survival rates. A team of researchers jointly led by the University of Edinburgh and Queen Mary University of London carried out a series of experiments to understand the role of YTHDF2 in blood cancer. the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, which is now housed in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. About 30 percent of AML patients have a mutation caused by a kinase called FLT3, which makes the leukemia more aggressive. Although a few FLT3 inhibitors have already been approved in the clinic, patients can relapse due to mutations in the FLT3 protein, which cause drug resistance. KinaRx is commercializing a series of new compounds that inhibit mutant FLT3 kinases, especially mutant versions that are resistant to current FDA-approved FLT3 inhibitors such as gilteritinib. These compounds were developed by researchers in Sintim's lab at Purdue.The researchers are looking for partners to continue testing and developing their technology