Kevan M. Shokat简介
KevanMShokat,ProfessorofUniversityofCaliforniaSanFrancisco,SanFrancisco,USAResearchinhislaboratoryisfocusedonthediscoveryofnewchemicalbasedtoolstodeciphercellularsignalingnetworkswithanemphasisonproteinkinasesandmorerecently,GTPasesTheanalysisofsignaltransductionpathwayshasprovenchallengingusingthetraditionaltoolsofbiochemistry,genetics,andchemistryBiochemicalapproachesareoftenlimitedinutilitybecausesignalingnetworksspanfromthecellsurfacetothecontroloftranscriptionandtranslation,confoundingreconstitutioneffortsfrompurifiedproteinsGeneticapproachesallowspecificperturbationofsinglecomponentsinanintactcellororganism,yetareoftenconfoundedbytheemergentpropertiesofsignalingcascadesChemicalandpharmacologicalapproachesenablerapid,reversible,andgraded(dose-dependent)inactivationofsinglecomponentsinintactcellsororganismsUnfortunately,highlyselectivechemicalprobes(agonists,antagonists,traceablesubstrates,etc)ofproteinkinasesaredifficulttodevelopbecausethe500proteinkinasessharehighlyhomologousATPbindingpocketsMylaboratoryhassolvedthisfundamentalproblemforthelargestfamilyofenzymesinthehumangenome,proteinkinases,bydevelopmentofastrategybasedonacombinationofproteinengineeringandorganicsynthesisWehavetermedthisapproachchemicalgenetics