Understanding the specificity and regulation of NCK adaptor proteins

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Communication between cells that make-up tissues in our body is essential. It is required not only to ensure that all parts of our body will develop properly from conception, but also that they will function accurately during our lifetime. Failure for cells to send, to receive or to correctly understand signals to/from their environment or other cells may lead to problems for the whole organism. The cellular actors responsible for such tasks are called proteins. Most, if not all proteins do not act individually but rather function as pairs, small groups (complexes) or larger groups (networks). We are particularly interested with a group of proteins, called adaptors, whose function is to bridge different proteins with one another in order to help a cell integrating signals from outside. Our work seeks to identify which proteins will associate with adaptors to form complexes and networks. Moreover, we will investigate what are the rules that govern this process, as we know that it is not random. In particular, we will examine proteins named NCK1 and NCK2, whose functions are sometimes redundant, sometimes more specific. To achieve these goals, we will use a combination of protein separation and quantification tools, as well as cellular imaging. We assert that our work will provide unique insights into protein networks that are essential for cellular communication and life.