Klas Wiman

I am Professor of Molecular Cell and Tumor Biology at Karolinska Institutet since 1999. My main research interest is cancer and novel cancer therapy. For more than three decades, I have studied the tumor suppressor gene TP53. I was coordinator of an EU Integrated project (Mutp53) with 23 partners and a budget of 8 M Euros 2004-2009, and have co-edited two books on p53 (Springer 2005 and 2012). I have also co-founded the company Aprea Therapeutics with colleagues 2003 with the aim of developing novel p53-targeted anti-cancer drugs. My research has been supported by an ERC Advanced Grant 2016-22.

Education/training
Med kand Uppsala University 1977
PhD Uppsala University 1981
Post doc Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New York 1982-85
MD Karolinska Institutet 1989

My laboratory performs research on p53 and the p53 tumor suppressor pathway, and therapeutic reactivation of mutant p53 in cancer. Our molecule APR-246 can trigger cell death in TP53 mutant tumor cells and inhibit tumor growth in vivo in mice. APR-246 also perturbs cellular redox homeostasis through inhibition of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR1) and depletion of glutathione (GSH). APR-246 has been tested in several clinical trials in patients with TP53 mutant MDS/AML. We are developing novel combination treatment strategies with APR-246 for synergistic elimination of TP53 mutant MDS/AML cells. We are also working on novel strategies for pharmacological induction of translational readthrough for reactivation of nonsense mutant TP53 in tumors.