Signal Transduction

The Wnt/beta Catenin signaling pathway plays a critical role in embryonic development, stem cell self-renewal and regeneration. Alterations in this signaling cascade have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer.

Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) is a protein encoded by TLR9 gene in humans. It is also known as cluster of differentiation 289 (CD289) and is a member of TLR family.

Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinases (ERK) also known as the Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK), MAPK/ERK proteins are a family of protein-serine/threonine kinases that are activated via the phosphorylation of tyrosine. MAPK/ERK are activated by diverse mechanisms.

c-Myc is a well-characterized transcription factor encoded by the c-Myc gene on human chromosome 8q24. This cellular proto-oncogene, also known as p62, is commonly activated in a variety of tumor cells and plays a crucial role in cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression.

Phosphoserine, the phosphorylated modification of the amino acid serine, is a central post-translational modification within a cell for many biological and biomedical processes. The phosphorylation of specifically four residue types - histidine, serine, threonine, and tyrosine occurs both within the cell as well as at the cell surface. This exquisitely controlled regulatory system controls a vast number of intertwined and interconnected downstream signaling pathways and cascades.

Phosphotyrosine is the phosphorylated version of the amino acid tyrosine, which results from the activation of intracellular protein kinases (e.g. via growth factors) during normal growth and development, well as in transformation and oncogenesis. Phosphorylation of histidine, serine, threonine and tyrosine residues acts as a signaling system to control many cellular signaling pathways.

The protein encoded by mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), also known as dTOR in Drosophila, belongs to a family of phosphatidylinositol kinase-related kinases. These kinases regulate fundamental processes of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism

Connexin 43/GJA1 is a member of the connexin gene family and the most abundant protein component found within gap junctions. Gap junctions are the cell-to-cell contacts that provide direct intercellular communication between cells by regulating back and forth diffusion of low molecular weight molecules. As such, they regulate quite an extensive range of key cellular processes.

Sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) is a transcription factor that regulates cholesterol homeostasis by controlling enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis and uptake, e.g. HMG-CoA.

Sorting Nexin Family Member 27 (SNX27) binds the cell membrane to regulate endocytic vesicular and protein trafficking. SNX27 has also been shown to play a key role in the endocytic recycling pathway, whereby internalized membrane proteins and lipids are degraded and recycled into the cell, in T lymphocytes. In their groundbreaking work on endocytic recycling pathways, Dr. F Maxfield and Dr. T McGraw showed that these pathways are essential for proper organelle maintenance and homeostatic regulation of molecules.