February 2022

Dr. GPCR Virtual Cafe

Dr. GPCR Ecosystem   -   Virtual Cafe   -   February 2022
 

 


Watch the full presentation on
Dr. GPCR Ecosystem 

   

 

Unconventional GPCR-PKA Communication in the Hedgehog Pathway

     

Abstract

   

Communication between GPCRs and protein kinase A (PKA) is fundamental to human physiology. GPCRs are widely assumed to regulate PKA activity primarily via canonical G protein- and cAMP-dependent cascades. In this seminar, I will describe an alternative mode of GPCR-PKA communication that does not conform to this existing paradigm. Recent studies from my lab have revealed that Smoothened (SMO), a class F GPCR in the Hedgehog signaling pathway, controls PKA localization and enzymatic activity via an unprecedented mechanism that does not require heterotrimeric G proteins. This mechanism may apply more broadly to a range of GPCR and PKA cascades in diverse areas of biology. Our work suggests new strategies for therapeutically targeting SMO and other GPCRs in human disease.
      
    

About Dr. Ben Myers

 

Ben Myers is an assistant professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, UT, and an investigator with the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Ben’s research focuses on Smoothened and other class F GPCRs, which play essential roles in embryonic development and cancer. His group studies the unusual signaling mechanisms employed by these atypical 7-transmembrane receptors, combining biochemical and structural approaches with cell biology and in vivo models. These studies have revealed new and unexpected ways for membrane lipids to regulate GPCR activity and for GPCRs to control intracellular kinases. More recently, Ben’s lab has begun studying GPCR signaling pathways that operate within the primary cilium, a tiny antenna-shaped structure at the cell surface with critical links to development, physiology, and disease. Ben studied developmental and cancer signaling as a postdoctoral fellow with Philip Beachy at Stanford University. Prior to that, Ben received his Ph.D. from UCSF, where he worked with Nobel laureate David Julius on the structure, function, and physiology of ion channels and GPCRs in the nervous system.

    
   

Dr. Ben Myers on the web

         

      

          

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