Revealing Secrets of Cellular Phosphorylation Systems Using Mass Spectrometry

蛋白质磷酸化是一种化学修饰，所有生物都利用它来改变蛋白质的功能，并控制细胞通讯、生长、代谢、分化和生存等过程。向蛋白质中添加和去除磷酸分子的酶分别被称为激酶和磷酸酶。由于可逆磷酸化的微妙平衡对细胞稳态至关重要，因此所有激酶/磷酸酶的行为都受到严密监视。生物质谱法是研究磷酸化系统最有力的分析工具之一。基于质谱的方法可以快速识别含有激酶和磷酸酶的功能性多蛋白复合物，并直接绘制磷酸盐添加的位置，从而更好地研究蛋白质修饰的后果。因此，我们研究计划的长期目标是整合质谱，生物化学和细胞生物学技术，以破译调节基本细胞过程的未知激酶和磷酸酶的机制细节。

Protein phosphorylation is a chemical modification utilized by all living organisms to alter the function of proteins and controls processes such as cellular communication, growth, metabolism, differentiation, and survival. The enzymes that add and remove phosphate molecules to proteins are called kinases and phosphatases respectively.  Since a delicate balance of reversible phosphorylation is essential for cellular homeostasis, the actions of all kinases/phosphatases are under tight surveillance. One of the most powerful analytical tools to study phosphorylation systems is biological mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry based methods can rapidly identify functional multiprotein complexes containing kinases and phosphatases as well as directly map the location of phosphate addition to better study the consequence of the protein modification. Accordingly, the long term goal of our research program is to integrate mass spectrometry, biochemistry, and cell biology techniques to decipher the mechanistic details regulating poorly understood kinases and phosphatases predicted to regulate fundamental cellular processes.