CRBI is hosting a series of seminars that introduce the research topics currently pursued in the laboratories of the members of the centre. In the second round of seminars, the postdoctoral fellows and graduate students will introduce narrower research topics in more detail.
Dr. Kyle Belozerov, from Dr. John McDermott's research group, will present his talk, titled
"Functional redundancy of the Drosophila p38 MAP kinases probed by mass spectrometry-based interaction proteomics"
Abstract:
The p38 MAPK pathway is a key evolutionarily conserved mediator of an organism’s response to stressful environmental stimuli. In mammals four p38 kinases form a robust signaling module believed to be supported by considerable functional redundancy. In Drosophila the p38 MAPK family consists of two highly homologous kinases, Mpk2 and p38b, and the third putative kinase p38c. Recent genetic analyses of various Mpk2 and p38b alleles suggest that the two kinases are at least partially redundant. However, the extent of this redundancy, and possible non-overlapping roles remain to be defined. To reveal common and unique molecular functions of individual p38 kinases we generated a high-resolution protein interaction map of Mpk2, p38b, and p38c in S2 cells. The use of an optimized single-step affinity purification procedure followed by gel-free LC-MS/MS analysis allowed us to detect both stable, and more transient, lower-affinity interactions. The results of our study suggest limited functional overlap between Mpk2 and p38b, primarily restricted to the regulation of mRNA processing. Another finding is a previously unacknowledged link between the p38 pathway and the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Validation of these new functional connections in the context of larval muscle and gut will also be presented. More broadly, our results illustrate the use of mass spectrometry-based interaction mapping for assigning shared and unique molecular functions to individual members of redundant protein families.
Please join us,
Date: Friday, February 10th, 2012
Time: 3:00 PM until 4:30.
Location: Lumbers building, Room 306 (York University, Keele Campus)
Refreshments will be served.
