Structural and Kinetic analysis of the functional complex between protein tyrosine phophatase SL (PTP-SL) and Erk2 MAP kinase

Structural and Kinetic analysis of the functional complex between protein tyrosine phophatase SL (PTP-SL) and Erk2 MAP kinase 2002 -2004 / 2004 - 2008
Acronym: PTP-SL
Budget: 100.000 €
Project director: Stefan Szedlacsek
SCHE 545_7 / 5421388: The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)
External website: full link

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is the most important independent research funding organisation in Germany. It supports both scientific and humanistic studies and aims to promote top-level research in various disciplines at universities and research institutions. The main focus is on funding projects proposed by the scientific community, with an emphasis on knowledge-driven research.

Regulated phosphorylation on specific serine, threonine or tyrosine residues of proteins is an important control mechanism for processes as diverse as cell growth and proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, apoptosis and immune response. Approximately one third of all eukaryotic gene products can be post-translationally phosphorylated.

Consequently, a growing body of data shows that phosphorylation is directly or indirectly involved in virtually all signalling processes. Important physiological processes such as learning and forgetting, which are the subject of intense research, have been shown to be are also under the control of specific phosphorylation.

Stefan Szedlacsek, Dr.
Stefan Szedlacsek, Dr.

Head of Department

Prof. Dr. Stefan Szedlacsek is the Head of the Enzymology Department at the Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy. He holds a PhD degree in Biotechnology from Polytechnical University of Bucharest as well as a MSc in Organic Synthesis (Polytechnical University, Bucharest) and MSc in Mathematics (University of Bucharest). As a visiting scientist, he performed research in the field of cholesterol metabolism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA), where he succeeded to evidence a new pathway in the metabolism of oxysterols.  He is an “Alexander von Humboldt” fellow and worked in Germany, in the Institute of Biochem More...

The main objectives of the project are the following:

1. Kinetic evaluation of the influence of Kinase Interaction Motif (KIM) on the enzymatic activity of PTP-SL

2. Kinetic evaluation of the influence of phosphorylation on Thr 253 of PTP-SL on the  intrinsic phosphatase activity.

3. Crystallization of PTP-SL containing the KIM region and (in case of successful crystallizatron) solving the corresponding 3D-structure

4. Crystallization of the complex between PTP-SL containing the KIM region and ERK2 and (in case of successful crystallization) solving the corresponding 3D-structure.

under construction

under construction

Published papers: 

1. „Identification and specificity profiling of protein prenyltransferase inhibitors using new fluorescent phosphoisoprenoids”:  Dursina B, Reents R, Delon C, Wu Y, Kulharia M, Thutewohl M, Veligodsky A, Kalinin A, Evstifeev V, Ciobanu D, Szedlacsek SE, Waldmann H, Goody RS, Alexandrov K;  JACS128, 2822-35; 2006 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16506760/

2. Interface Analysis of the Complex between ERK2 and PTP-SL”; Balasu MC; Spiridon LN;, Miron S; Craescu CT; Scheidig AJ; Petrescu AJ, Szedlacsek SE.; PLoS One; 4(5); e5432; 2009 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19424502/