Step 2

Why are cancerous cells, essentially immortal, as they proliferate uncontrollably within a tumor?

The interaction of specific proteins within mammalian cells cause cancerous cells to poliferate uncontrollably within a tumor and become, in essence, immortal. Cancerous cells often find ways of both disrupting the normal cell cycle to prevent cell death, and further stimulate proliferation through the use of growth factors. The malfunction of this type of signaling and regulated processes within a cell, are often the molecular basis for disease.

Research Focus

The subject of study is the interaction of proteins within the cellular process known as endocytosis. My focus is on clathrin-mediated endocytosis, a process triggered by the attachment of a ligand to its corresponding cell surface protein receptor. It is distinguished by the invagination of cellular plasma membrane at the site of the ligand-receptor interaction and the formation of a clathrin-coated vesicle that later uncoats and fuses with the endosome.

The research objective is focused on proteins with roles in these preliminary endocytic events, namely Rab5, which is activated and functions when bound to guanosine triphosphate (GTP) and inactive when bound to guanine diphosphate (GDP). In turn, activation of Rab5 is facilitated by a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) discovered in the lab called Rab5 activating protein 6, also referred to as RAP6.