Calcium Signal Transduction by EF-hand Proteins

The calcium ion is a common currency used for regulation of many central processes in biology. EF-hand Ca²⁺ binding proteins play a role in most aspects of the corresponding signal transduction pathways, from regulation of Ca²⁺ channels, to controlling the intensity and duration of Ca²⁺ signals, to transduction of these signals into biochemical and biomechanical responses. Thus, studies of EF-hand proteins are important for understanding how Ca²⁺ signal transduction pathways influence the progression of the cell's biochemistry in health and disease. The research in my laboratory involves two different aspects of Ca²⁺ signal transduction by EF-hand proteins: (A) understanding how the generic Ca²⁺ signal is transduced into specific biochemical responses; (B) elucidating the mechanisms of action of S100 proteins in signal transduction pathways.

• Signal Transduction by EF-hand Calcium-Binding Proteins
  • The structural basis for selectivity in intracellular Ca²⁺ signal transduction
  • Intracellular and extracellular signal transduction mediated by S100 proteins
• Structural Mechanisms of Protein Assemblies
  • Structural mechansims for progression of DNA processing assemblies
  • Structural, biochemical and functional studies of ubiquitination signaling