Identifying Critical Non-Catalytic Residues that Modulate Protein Kinase A Activity
2009

Understanding Protein Kinase A Activity

Sample size: 25000 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Eileen J. Kennedy, Jie Yang, Lorraine Pillus, Susan S. Taylor, Gourisankar Ghosh

Primary Institution: University of California San Diego

Hypothesis

Identifying critical non-catalytic residues that modulate Protein Kinase A activity.

Conclusion

The study reveals new insights into kinase regulation and identifies mutations that can restore activity in kinase-dead mutants.

Supporting Evidence

  • Suppressor mutations were identified that restored viability to a tpk null strain.
  • Many suppressor mutations were isolated multiple times, indicating their significance.
  • Some mutations were found to overlap with those identified in cancer data sets.

Takeaway

Scientists found ways to fix a broken protein that helps cells grow, which could help us understand diseases like cancer better.

Methodology

A genetic screen was developed to identify suppressor mutations that restored catalytic activity in vivo from two kinase-dead Protein Kinase A mutants in S. cerevisiae.

Limitations

The study primarily focuses on specific mutations in a yeast model, which may not fully represent human biology.

Participant Demographics

The study used a yeast strain derived from the Saccharomyces Genome Deletion Project.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0004746

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