I am part of
the Oncology, Membrane Traffic and Signaling grouping in the Physiological
Laboratory. I am also Director of the Biomedical
Electron Microscopy Unit.
My research is funded by the Wellcome Trust, the BBSRC and North West Cancer
Research.
My main interests lie in understanding
how subcellular location of signalling cascades regulates their
outcomes. Cell signalling regulates key cellular functions including
cell division, death, migration and differentiation and many pathways
are controlled by Ras proteins. Mutations
causing hyper-activation of Ras are potent promoters of cancer.
We use Ras as a model system because all mammalian cells contain
3 almost identical versions of Ras: H-Ras, K-Ras and N-Ras. Despite
this, these proteins are known to generate different biological
outputs. One possible explanation for these differences lies in
their different microlocalisation
within the cell surface and internal organelles allowing them to
access different pools of activators and downstream signalling molecules.
Current projects in the lab are
concerned with:
* Nanoscale organisation of cell
surface signalling domains
* Endogenous isoform-specific Ras
signalling and oncogenic Ras signalling.
* Kinome responses to oncogenic Ras signalling.
* Electron microscopy collaborative
projects: biofunctionalising nanoparticles, growth factor receptor
trafficking and sorting, proteins regulating endosome architecture,
neuronal function and mitosis.
We use a wide variety of in
vitro approaches to study different aspects of Ras signalling.
A recently developed capacity is in the use of quantitative SILAC
proteomics to investigate the Ras signalling network rather than
only focus on one or two pathways.
|