U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Yeast Camp-dependent Protein Kinase Substrate Specificity

该奖项将支持新罕布什尔-达勒姆大学的Clyde L. Denis博士和墨尔本圣文森特医学研究所的Bruce E. Kemp博士之间的合作研究。本研究的目的是促进对真核生物（多细胞）基因调控的分子机制的认识。最近的证据表明，基因表达受磷酸化调节，即代谢过程中碳水化合物的酶转化。然而，通过蛋白激酶磷酸化的过程和激活剂，即活细胞中无活性蛋白转化为酶的过程，尚不清楚。本研究将比较哺乳动物和酵母蛋白激酶，以促进对磷酸化调控基因表达的理解。这个项目代表了澳大利亚和美国科学家之间的杰出合作。Kemp博士是蛋白激酶及其底物决定因素方面的国际公认权威。丹尼斯博士广泛使用酵母作为实验系统来阐明细胞调控的核心问题。酵母和哺乳动物蛋白激酶的比较分析将提供重要的新信息，并推动蛋白质分析、重组DNA技术和遗传学技术的发展。此外，对酵母调节过程的研究可以为酵母的商业应用提供知识。

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. Clyde L. Denis of the University of New Hampshire-Durham and Dr. Bruce E. Kemp of the St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne. The goal of the research is to advance knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of eucaryotic (multi- cell) gene regulation. Recent evidence shows that gene expression is regulated by phosphorylation, that is, enzymatic conversion of carbohydrates in metabolic processes. However the processes and activators that are phosphorylated through protein kinase, that is, the conversion of inactive protein in living cells to enzymes, are not well-understood. This research will compare mammalian and yeast protein kinase to advance understanding of the regulation of gene expression by phosphorylation. The project represents excellent collaboration between the Australian and U.S.- scientist. Dr. Kemp is an internationally recognized authority on protein kinases and their substrate determinants. Dr. Denis has used yeast extensively as an experimental system to illuminate central questions in cellular regulation. Comparative analysis of yeast and mammalian protein kinases should provide important new information, and advance techniques dealing with protein analysis, recombinant DNA techniques, and genetics. Furthermore, the study of the regulatory processes in yeast may provide knowledge that can be exploited in commercial applications involving yeast.