{"id":32124,"date":"2024-03-01T14:14:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T19:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/?p=32124"},"modified":"2024-09-26T13:32:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T17:32:47","slug":"nc-state-duke-unc-partner-on-czi-research-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/nc-state-duke-unc-partner-on-czi-research-project\/","title":{"rendered":"NC State, Duke and UNC Partner on Protein Kinase Research Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

NC State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been granted funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative<\/a> to develop new tools for monitoring and manipulating protein kinases. Protein kinases play a key role in biological regulation \u2014 and are also a frequent target for therapeutic intervention. This work will help researchers better understand cellular organization, nervous system function and neurological diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albert Keung, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and Goodnight Distinguished Scholar at NC State who will serve as a principal investigator on the joint project, said the team\u2019s goal is to \u201cdevelop technologies to unlock how much of biology we can measure and see.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve reached a point in biology where we know what a lot of the parts are,\u201d Keung said. \u201cWe know all of the DNA sequences; we know most of the proteins that exist. But we don’t know how those proteins interact with other proteins, and with what strength, and with what speed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gets us part of the way there to know what the components are, but you have to understand how they interact with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not enough to merely know \u201cwhether A and B interact,\u201d Keung said; more importantly, the research team is focused on measuring how strongly and how quickly certain proteins interact with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keung likens the current dilemma to cooking \u2014 or, specifically, trying to re-create a dish without the recipe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at a dish, you can probably figure out what the ingredients are. But you don\u2019t know how much of each ingredient was used and when. You don\u2019t know how long and how they were cooked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as many different dishes can be made from the same ingredients \u2014 depending on the exact recipe \u2014 the strength and duration of reactions between proteins make a major difference in the outcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe properties of a cell or organism, its function, and what goes awry in disease are all really dependent on how the parts get put together. That\u2019s what\u2019s hidden to us right now,\u201d Keung said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research project \u2014 \u201cRevealing the hidden topologies of the human kinome\u201d \u2014 will be funded by one of four Exploratory Cell Networks grants, which \u201csupport early-stage tech development driven by collaborations across regional labs,\u201d the Chan Zuckerburg Initiative (CZI) announced Feb. 29<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo unravel the mysteries of the cell, we need new technologies \u2026\u201d Stephen Quake, Head of Science at CZI, said in the announcement. \u201cThese teams are developing novel tools and approaches to understanding, measuring, and engineering cells and molecules that are critical to building virtual cell models \u2014 which will open the door to new discoveries about human health and disease.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis work will pave the way for a new era of predictive biology,\u201d said Scott Soderling, the George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor for Research in Molecular Biology at Duke University, who\u2019s a principal investigator on the grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaboration is a central component of CZI\u2019s Exploratory Cell Networks grants, with each team comprising researchers from at least three universities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur combined skills in biosensors, proteomics and synthetic biology form the backbone of this Initiative,\u201d Soderling said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Keung, NC State is represented by professor Balaji Rao, an expert in protein engineering and high throughput methods, who will serve as a co-investigator. Duke is represented by Soderling, and UNC-Chapel Hill is represented by Klaus Hahn<\/a>, the Ronald G. Thurman Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about CZI\u2019s four Exploratory Cell Networks grants, read this news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n