Yale scientists decipher ‘wiring pattern’ of cell signaling networks
December 2, 2005 | Source: KurzweilAI
A team of scientists at Yale University has completed the first comprehensive map of the proteins and kinase signaling network that controls how cells of higher organisms operate, according to a report this week in the journal Nature.
Protein kinases act as regulator switches and modify their target proteins by adding a phosphate group to them. This process, called “phosphorylation,” results in altered activity of the phosphorylated protein. It is estimated that 30% of all proteins are regulated by this process.
The researchers used proteome microarrays to assay the thousands of different proteins in a yeast cell for targets of the protein kinases. The 82 unique kinases, representing the majority of master regulators in the yeast cell, were tested separately with the microarrays to determine which proteins were modified by each kinase.
From the data, they onstructed a complex map of the regulatory networks governing the functions and activities of the kinases in the yeast cell.
According to team leader professor Michael Snyder, these findings in yeast are of immediate use for understanding both human development from the fertilized egg to full grown organism, and for drug discovery targeting human diseases.