Understanding signaling cascades

The specificity of protein-protein interactions is key to the successful execution of virtually every biological process yet molecular biology tools to block these interactions are lacking. This project focuses on developing biological tools against a class of protein domains (Src homology 2 domains, SH2) known to be important for mediating protein-protein interactions during cellular signaling. The student will work closely with Avacta Life Sciences and utilize non-antibody binding protein libraries to isolate reagents against SH2 domains and testing their ability to block protein function. This will involve performing phage display, expressing proteins, developing microarrays, and performing high-throughput high content phenotypic screening.