This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Some proteins are central to many cell signaling processes. One of these key molecules is AKT2. An important kinase involved in cell survival, growth, and metabolism, it has ties to insulin-induced signaling and cancer. AKT2 has a critical role in immune cells such as neutrophils and macrophages; however, although AKT2 is expressed in antibody-producing immune cells called B cells, its function in B cells isn’t clear. In a recent study, researchers sought to understand the role of AKT2 in B cells using AKT2-deficient mice. They found that mice lacking AKT2 had impaired B-cell differentiation. B cells from these mice were not able to form a cluster of molecules called a signalosome in response to B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling, resulting in poor BCR signaling and impaired B cell activation and spreading. These results suggest that as a central orchestrator of signaling, AKT2 function is critical for proper BCR signaling and B cell development, ensuring a functional antibody-mediated immune response..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This course focuses on computational and experimental analysis of biological systems across a hierarchy of scales, including genetic, molecular, cellular, and cell population levels. The two central themes of the course are modeling of complex dynamic systems and protein design and engineering. Topics include gene sequence analysis, molecular modeling, metabolic and gene regulation networks, signal transduction pathways and cell populations in tissues. Emphasis is placed on experimental methods, quantitative analysis, and computational modeling.

The course, which spans two thirds of a semester, provides students with a research-inspired laboratory experience that introduces standard biochemical techniques in the context of investigating a current and exciting research topic, acquired resistance to the cancer drug Gleevec. Techniques include protein expression, purification, and gel analysis, PCR, site-directed mutagenesis, kinase activity assays, and protein structure viewing.
This class is part of the new laboratory curriculum in the MIT Department of Chemistry. Undergraduate Research-Inspired Experimental Chemistry Alternatives (URIECA) introduces students to cutting edge research topics in a modular format.
Acknowledgments
Development of this course was funded through an HHMI Professors grant to Professor Catherine L. Drennan.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how the binding of a ligand initiates signal transduction throughout a cellRecognize the role of phosphorylation in the transmission of intracellular signalsEvaluate the role of second messengers in signal transmission

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The Wnt signaling pathway is linked to multiple developmental defects, inherited diseases, and many types of cancer. An essential component of the Wnt signaling pathway is a family of proteins known as Dishevelled (DVL). Studies have hinted that phosphorylation of DVL proteins at specific sites ultimately controls parts of the Wnt pathway, but the molecular mechanisms have remained unclear. Now, researchers have discovered “barcode”-like patterns of phosphorylation that could dictate certain DVL functions. The team used mass spectrometry-based proteomics to determine which sites along the protein DVL3 were phosphorylated by 8 different kinases and found 88 phosphorylation sites organized into barcodes unique for each kinase. The barcoding they observed could determine how DVL3 is distributed in the cell and, with further research, could point to the role of DVL proteins in certain human diseases and cancers..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Sometimes viruses release RNA into the host’s cytosol, and detecting that RNA is a critical part of the host’s antiviral immune response. But cells need to have a set of brakes to regulate these responses, otherwise they can trigger harmful overproduction of type I interferon proteins. The kinase MST4 is one part of this ‘braking’ system. Previous work found that MST4 limits damaging inflammatory responses by adding a phosphate group to the adaptor protein TRAF6. But researchers wanted to know how MST4 might regulate type I interferon production. So, in a recent study, they determined that MST4 also competes with another TRAF protein, TRAF3, to bind MAVS. MAVS is a key antiviral signaling protein, and when MST4 binds it instead of TRAF3, type I interferon production is slowed. They also found that MST4 facilitated interactions between MAVS and the ubiquitin ligase Smurf1, which encouraged degradation of MAVS..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) is a deadly illness characterized by persistent lung inflammation. This inflammation is commonly triggered by the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS activates the synthesis and release of inflammatory cytokines by binding TLR4 (toll-like receptor 4), which activates NF-κB (nuclear factor-κB). To understand the exact signaling mechanisms, researchers focused on two potentially involved proteins, ezrin and ROCK (Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase). Ezrin is a cross-linking protein that has been previously implicated in the activation of TLR4 signaling during LPS challenge, and ROCK is a kinase that may regulate the activity of ezrin-related proteins via phosphorylation. In cultured pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells, LPS induced ezrin phosphorylation, but this could be inhibited by blocking RhoA/ROCK..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Chemotherapy is one of the most effective treatments against advanced breast cancer. But resistance to chemotherapy drugs such as taxanes remains a persistent problem. To identify molecular targets for reversing resistance to the taxane drug paclitaxel, researchers recently screened the genes coding for 724 kinase proteins which are implicated in primary cancer processes such as metastasis and proliferation. That led to the identification of the gene TAOK3. TAOK3 was associated with the most significant decrease in the effectiveness of paclitaxel. Blocking TAOK3 expression reduced paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer cells derived from humans and in tumors grafted onto mice. Further experiments revealed that TAOK3 promoted chemoresistance by enhancing NF-κB signaling. By disrupting this interaction between TAOK3 and NF-κB, researchers could begin to develop new ways of boosting the effectiveness of breast cancer treatments..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Tribbles homolog 2 (Trib2) is a pseudo serine/threonine kinase that functions as a scaffold or adaptor in many signaling pathways. Trib2 can interact with E3 ubiquitin ligases and affect the protein stability of downstream effectors, controlling transcription, cell proliferation, apoptosis, survival, and differentiation, with effects on metabolism and disease. In contrast to its critical role in cell development and homeostasis, Trib2 is also induced by mitogens and enhances cancer cell proliferation. Its involvement in several hematopoietic cancers and solid tumors makes it a valuable biomarker for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Recent studies have shown that Trib2 also plays a major role in determining the fate of stem cells, which have the potential to self-renew and differentiate into many different cell types. Trib2 may be necessary for colony formation and self-renewal of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and loss of Trib2 function is associated with ESC differentiation..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Calcineurin is a serine/threonine phosphatase that serves as a critical bridge between calcium signaling and the phosphorylation states of numerous important substrates. But despite being studied for approximately 40 years, exactly how calcineurin is activated in humans and other organisms is not yet fully understood. Structurally, calcineurin is a heterodimer expressed as three different isoforms: α, β, and γ each featuring a catalytic domain, a B chain binding helix, the regulatory domain, an autoinhibitory domain, and an unstructured C-terminal domain of unknown function. Disorder is a key hallmark of calcineurin’s structure. The intrinsically disordered regulatory domain could facilitate the rapid activation of calcineurin during calcium signaling. Increasing evidence suggests that calcineurin is a vital component of various signaling pathways. But even more work is needed to understand calcineurin’s versatility including how certain substrates bind to calcineurin..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.