Discoveries

Scaffolding proteins serve as sites of binding and organization for the multiple components involved in many signaling pathways. Scaffolding promotes key protein-protein interactions and can substantially amplify a signal; however, if proteins are bound too tightly to a scaffold, signal propagation may actually be hindered. The precise mechanisms that regulate… Read More

Exocytic vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane (PM) through the action of SNARE proteins, which in turn, are delivered to the vesicles by multisubunit protein tethering complexes. One such complex is the exocyst, comprising two tetrameric subcomplexes, SC1 (composed of SEC3, SEC5, SEC6, and SEC8) and SC2 (composed of SEC10,… Read More

Figure reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license from A. M. Fenix, et al. (2018) eLife, published December 12, DOI: 10.7554/eLife.42144. The sarcomere is a repeating unit of interdigitating actin and myosin filaments that serves as the building blocks of the myofibrils in striated muscle cells. Sarcomeres are demarcated… Read More

In DNA, abasic sites (apurinic/apyrimidinic or AP sites) occur through spontaneous hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond that joins the base to the deoxyribose ring (a common reaction following formation of some kinds of DNA adducts) or through the action of DNA glycosylases during repair of damaged bases. In double-stranded DNA,… Read More

Figure courtesy of A.R. Greenplate. Copyright 2018. Cytomics, the “omics” of cell identity, offers the opportunity to systematically identify all cells in a tissue or patient sample, and the recent advent of high-dimensional flow and mass cytometry to the cytomics arsenal has markedly increased its power. Cytomics is particularly valuable… Read More

Over 27 million people in the United States are living with type 2 (adult onset) diabetes. In most cases, type 2 diabetes results from a mixture of multiple genetic and environmental factors. However, in a small subgroup of patients, mutation of a single gene leads to the form of type… Read More

Apoptosis is a mechanism of cell death that occurs in normal tissues as part of natural cell turnover and remodeling. Apoptotic cells are cleared by efforcytosis, a specialized form of phagocytosis mediated by MerTK, a receptor tyrosine kinase expressed by many phagocytic cells. MerTK recognizes a combination of ligands, such… Read More

Our growing ability to acquire data at the level of single cells in complex samples provides exciting new opportunities to understand physiological and pathophysiological processes; however, it also presents daunting challenges for the statistical evaluation of the resultant huge datasets. To date, most experimental approaches have focused on identifying the… Read More

A New Approach to RAS Inhibition Image reproduced with permission from T. R. Hodges, et al., (2018) J. Med. Chem., published online September 11, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01108. Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society RAS is a small protein that acts as a molecular on/off switch to modulate numerous signaling pathways that… Read More

Promoting Immune-Mediated Therapy in Breast Cancer Image courtesy of Dr. Steven Harmes. Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas Texas. Despite major progress in early diagnosis and treatment, breast cancer (BC) remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the U.S. A promising new approach to cancer therapy… Read More