Cell
Cycle Control Team
Team Leader:
Dr Michelle D Garrett
One of the principal characteristics
of human cancer is the ability to proliferate in an uncontrolled
manner. At the heart of cell proliferation is the cell division
cycle and, when not regulated correctly, this process can be one
of the underlying causes of cancer. The main aims of the Cell
Cycle Control Team are (i) to further our understanding of how
signalling pathways regulate the mammalian cell division cycle
through the cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) family of serine/threnonine
kinases and to use this knowledge to identify and validate cell
cycle regulators as targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer
(ii) to participate in drug discovery and development projects
that can utilise our expertise in signalling pathways and cell
cycle regulation. In particular, we are interested in the cyclin
D-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6, which associate with the D-type
cyclins to control G1 progression through phosphorylation of the
tumour suppressor protein, pRb. Most human cancers contain genetic
alterations that affect these kinases, their regulators including
the D-type cyclins or pRB itself. In addition they act as a key
integration point between extracellular signalling pathways such
as those governed by Ras and PI3 kinase/protein kinase B and the
cell division cycle. Thus, understanding the molecular basis of
the CDK/cyclin D/pRb pathway and its regulation will be important
in the identification of novel targets for new cancer treatments.
We are also participating in four drug discovery and development
projects. These are on PKB, pRb phosphorylation and the
Chk1 and Chk2 cell cycle checkpoint kinases.
Details of our current research
programme are available in the Projects Database.
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Target
Identification, Validation & Selection:
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Last Modified
15/4/05
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