Fig. 6: Proposed model of selective anticancer activity of NSLC01 in cancer cells with high NRF2 activation.

NSLC01 selectively activates eEF2K by inhibiting its phosphorylation at S366; activated eEF2K then phosphorylates the downstream eEF2 at T56, inhibiting its translation elongation function; this inhibition of translation reduces the availability of enzymes (ASNS, GHPDH, PSAT1, and PSPH) that drive the synthesis of asparagine and likely, serine as well necessary for cancer cell survival and proliferation.