At the MCW Cancer Center, researchers are investigating the molecular machinery that drives cancer. By studying the three-dimensional structures of proteins and other biological molecules, investigators are learning how cells grow, communicate, and respond to stress—and how these processes become disrupted in cancer.

Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray crystallography, researchers can visualize cancer-related proteins in remarkable detail. These technologies allow investigators to examine how proteins interact with DNA, other proteins, and potential medicines, providing a clearer understanding of how cancer works at the molecular level.

These studies are helping researchers understand why proteins stop functioning normally in cancer and how those changes alter critical cellular processes. They also explain how cancers become resistant to treatment and identify new opportunities to interrupt the pathways that allow tumors to survive.

This work provides the foundation for structure-based drug discovery. By understanding exactly how medicines interact with cancer-driving proteins, MCW researchers can improve existing drugs, identify new therapeutic targets, and design treatments that more effectively disrupt the molecular processes driving cancer.