Biosensors for multiplex imaging of endogenous protein activation

BIOL 146

Klaus M. Hahn, khahn@med.unc.edu, Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, 1106 Mary Ellen Jones Building, CB# 7365, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Over the past ten years there has been a revolution in our ability to visualize signaling dynamics in living cells. This has shown that the spatio-temporal dynamics of signaling are a critical determinant of cell behavior. In many cases localized generation of particular protein states (i.e. phosphorylation, conformations etc), rather than simple protein translocation, determine the outcome of receptor stimulation. This talk will describe several new tools to quantify protein conformational changes in living cells, and demonstrate their utility in studies of Rho family GTPase signaling for motility and macropinocytosis. The talk will cover methods to study endogenous, untagged proteins using novel dyes, simultaneous imaging of coordinated signaling activities, and biosensors for previously inaccessible targets made via phage display screening of biosensor libraries.