Itch PRD domain and specificity of function

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A multicellular organism can be viewed as a community of individual cells that live in a very organized society. This society relies on an intricate communication network that control individual cell fate, survival, and proliferation to ensure the well being of the global organism. Each cell at its turn possesses a very complex molecular network to control the different aspects of its function and development. If, globally, all cells are comparable, the exact network composition of each individual cell must be adjusted to allow each cell specific function and control its growth in the limits of its particular tissue. We are studying ubiquitin ligases, a particular class of proteins that are a very important part of the regulating machinery responsible for fine tuning and adjustment of specific parts of the cell molecular network. By studying this class of enzyme, how they are controlled, and how in turn they control other proteins, we hope to gain a better understanding of cellular physiology, and how it is properly maintained in health, or altered in disease.