The Role of Ubiquitin Ligases in Drug Discovery at Ubiquitin Conference 2011

May 26, 2011 - PRLog -- Ubiquitin's role in a wide range of human pathologies including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and more, has meant that much of the research in this area has focused on its role in mammalian cellular systems. As a highly conserved protein, however, ubiquitin is present in all forms of multi-cellular life. Over the past several years, scientists have begun to exploit their knowledge of how the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway functions in plants, in order to develop better therapeutics and diagnostics for disease targets in humans.

Dr. Ning Zheng, an associate professor at the University of Washington, uncovered in 2007 a complex signal transduction mechanism by isolating a plant hormone called auxin, and identifying the way in which it interacts with its respective receptor, a protein called TIR1 which is similar to enzymes that are known to play a role in the development of cancer in humans. Dr. Zheng and his fellow researchers demonstrated that auxin improves the bindability of TIR1 to its target substrate. In humans, a malfunction in this type of mechanism can lead to a number of pathologies, and it seems likely that similar small molecules could be used to develop novel therapeutics for these diseases.

Dr. Zheng’s work now focuses on Cullin-RING E3 ligases, another component of the ubiquitin system that plays a fundamental role in a wide range of cellular processes. He will be presenting his latest research at the third-annual Ubiquitin Drug Discovery & Diagnostics Conference in Philadelphia, to be held on July 11th to 13th at the Four Seasons Hotel. Conference program highlights include sessions on oncology, neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases, and clinical aspects of ubiquitin research.

For an updated program and list of speakers, and for information on registering online, visit www.ubiquitinconference.com.

Contact Details: Varsha Luthra
Director, Ubiquitin Conferences
luthra@ubiquitinconferences.com
610-644-0585, ext. 319

www.ubiquitinconference.com

# # #

The mission of VLI is to disseminate state of the art information on the ubiquitin pathway and disease, and to bring together leading researchers and business experts from top pharmaceutical, biotech and academic organizations.