PBIO SEMINAR SERIES

Seeking the physical principles of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling

Wednesday - October 17, 2007
07-08 SEMINAR SERIES
10:00am - 11:00am
CHDD, room 150

Kalina Hristova
Associate Professor of Materials Science & Engineering Johns Hopkins University
Speaker's website

Host: Asbury
Co-hosting Department: Chemistry, Sarah Keller

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) conduct biochemical signals via lateral dimerization in the plasma membrane, and their transmembrane domains play an important role in the dimerization process. Single amino acid mutations in RTK transmembrane domains induce unregulated signaling and, as a consequence, pathologies. The research in our lab is focused on the molecular mechanism behind these pathologies, and it suggests that RTK signaling in health and disease can be understood and predicted based on quantitative knowledge of receptor interaction strengths.