Mikail E. Abbasov, Ph.D.

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Summary

Vision: The vast majority of the human proteome remains inaccessible to traditional drug discovery. Closing this gap requires not only chemical and technological innovation but also reimagined therapeutic modalities that modulate protein function and disease pathways through noncanonical mechanisms. The overarching goal of my research program is to pioneer such modalities to deepen mechanistic insight into disease biology and expand the repertoire of tractable targets that regulate pathophysiology.
Strategy: My laboratory integrates synthesis of structurally complex natural products and stereochemically enriched small molecules with modern mass spectrometry-based chemoproteomic technologies, biochemistry, chemical biology, molecular/cell biology, and functional genomics. This unified approach maps pharmacological tractability directly in native proteomes, assigns cellular targets and binding sites of bioactive compounds, and links covalent engagement to functional outcomes. In practice, we conduct phenotype-to-target campaigns that begin with unbiased cellular activity and culminate in validated, target-assigned chemical probe-protein pairs that inform mechanism-of-action studies and translational lead optimization.
Focus: Unlike traditional covalent drug discovery programs that focus on cysteine residues, our strategy centers on the targeted covalent modification of proteinogenic lysine residues, one of the most prevalent amino acids within the human proteome and crucial to numerous cellular processes. This lysine-centric strategy broadens tractability to protein classes and regulatory nodes that are frequently missed by existing paradigms yet remains compatible with complementary covalent strategies when warranted by biology.
Innovation: We established a multiplexed chemoproteomic platform with optimized probes and accelerated acquisition workflows to profile reactive lysines at scale across diverse biological systems. This capability expedites target identification and site mapping for covalent ligands and supports next-generation modalities including covalent inhibitors/activators, bifunctional degraders, molecular dimerizers, and programmable post-translational control of protein function. Collectively, these advances streamline rapid iteration from chemistry to target assignment to functional validation and have seeded programs spanning cancer biology, host-pathogen interactions, and immunometabolism.
Impact: My research program is designed to deliver mechanistically anchored, target-assigned chemical probes that clarify causal biology and seed translational hypotheses by expanding target and mechanism space beyond established paradigms.

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Publications & Presentations

1. Jin Y, Jana S, Abbasov M, Lin H. Antibiotic target discovery by integrated phenotypic and activity-based profiling of electrophilic fragments. Cell Chemical Biology. 2025; 32 : 434-448

2. Ryan E M, Norinskiy M A, Bracken A K, Lueders E E, Chen X, Fu Q, Anderson E T, Zhang S, Abbasov M. Activity-based acylome profiling with N-(cyanomethyl)-N-(phenylsulfonyl)amides for targeted lysine acylation and post-translational control of protein function in cells. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2024; 146 : 27622-27643

3. Bracken A K, Gekko C E, Suss N O, Lueders E E, Cui Q, Fu Q, Lui A C, Anderson E T, Zhang S, Abbasov M. Biomimetic synthesis and chemical proteomics reveal the mechanism of action and functional targets of phloroglucinol meroterpenoids. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2024; 146 : 2524-2548

4. Abbasov M, Kavanagh M E, Ichu T, Lazear M R, Tao Y, Crowley V M, Am Ende C W, Hacker S M, Ho J, Dix M M. A proteome-wide atlas of lysine-reactive chemistry. Nature Chemistry. 2021; 13 : 1081-1092

5. Chaheine C M, Gladen P T, Abbasov M, Romo D. Enantioselective, organocatalytic strategy for the oxazolomycin core: Formal synthesis of (+)-neooxazolomycin. Organic Letters. 2020; 22 : 9282-9286

Grants

1. Chemoproteomic mapping of the ligandable ribonucleoproteome using phloroglucinol meroterpenoids. NIH. Start Date: 2021. End Date: 2024.

2. Adam and Rachel Broder Fund for Cancer Research. Misc Non-Federal. Start Date: 2022. End Date: 2023.

Awards and Honors

1. Cornell University. Adam and Rachel Broder Fund for Cancer Research. Date: 2022.


2. NIH/NIGMS. Maximizing Investigators Research Award (MIRA) for Early-Stage Investigators. Date: 2021.


3. Scripps Research Institute. Hewitt Foundation for Medical Research Fellowship. Date: 2016.

Education

1. Degree: Postdoctoral Fellowship. Scripps Research Institute. Date: 2020.


2. Degree: Ph D. Texas A&M University. Date: 2015.


3. Degree: MS. Killgore Research Center at West Texas A&M University. Date: 2009.


4. Degree: BS. West Texas A&M University. Date: 2004.


5. Degree: A.S.. Amarillo College. Date: 2002.

Administrative Assignments

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