Faculty

Professor of Pharmacology

Key Words: Protein Kinases, Protein Phosphatases, Signal Transduction, Membrane Biochemistry

Our lab investigates the biochemistry and cell biology of protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in signal transduction. In particular, we are interested in the molecular mechanisms of kinases and phosphatases activated by the PI3 kinase and/or diacylglycerol signaling pathways. These include protein kinase C, the phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK-1), and Akt (protein kinase B), as well as the phosphatases that counteract these kinases, including a recently discovered phosphatase that specifically terminates signalling by Akt. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of these processes is of particular relevance to cancer biology where many of these proteins become disregulated.

Selected Publications: 

Toker, A., and Newton, A. C. (2000) "Cellular Signaling: Pivoting around PDK-1" Cell 103, 185-188.

Newton, A. C. (2001) "Protein Kinase C: Structural and Spatial Regulation by Phosphorylation, Cofactors, and Macromolecular Interactions" in Protein Phosphorylation, (eds. N. Ahn and R. Kuchta), Chemical Reviews, 101, 2353-2364.

Sonnenburg, E. D., Gao, T., Newton, A. C. (2002) "The Phosphoinositide Dependent Kinase, PDK-1, Phosphorylates Conventional Protein Kinase C Isozymes by a Mechanism that is Independent of Phosphoinositide-3-Kinase ". J. Biol. Chem., 276, 45289-45297.

Gao, T., and Newton, A. C. (2002) "The Turn Motif is a Phosphorylation Switch that Regulates the Binding of HSP70 to Protein Kinase C". J. Biol. Chem., 277, 31585-31592.

Newton, A. C. (2003) "Regulation of the ABC Kinases by Phosphorylation: Protein Kinase C as a Paradigm". Biochem J. 370, 361-371.

Violin, J. D., Zhang, J., Tsien, R. Y., and Newton, A. C. (2003) "A Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Reporter Reveals Oscillatory Phosphorylation by Protein Kinase C". J. Cell Bio. 161, 899-909.

Giorgione, J., Hysell, M., Harvey, D. F., and Newton, A. C. (2003) "Contribution of the C1A and C1B Domains to the Membrane Interaction of Protein Kinase C". Biochemistry, 42, 11194-11202.

Chen, D., Purit, A., Halovic, E., Doxsey, S., and Newton, A. C. (2003) "Centrosomal Anchoring of Protein Kinase C bII by Pericentrin Controls Microtubule Organization, Spindle Function, and Cytokinesis. J Biol Chem., 279, 4829-4839.