Research / Clinical
Summary
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Diseases/Research Topics
Antibiotics, Ribosome, Translation
Research in the Joseph laboratory focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanism of protein synthesis. Specifically, they are studying the mechanism of EF-G-dependent translocation of tRNA through the ribosome.
Protein synthesis is one of the fundamental steps in gene expression. Understanding how cells regulate their gene expression to grow and divide normally provides an important basis for understanding cancer at the molecular level. A wide variety of agents such as hormones, growth factors, heat shock, nutrient deprivation and oxidative damage affects cellular translation. In addition, gene expression during development is regulated at the level of translation by specific protein factors such as Pumilio and fragile X mental retardation protein.
Translation is also controlled by the phosphorylation status of translation factors eIF2a and small subunit protein S6. Thus, components of the translational apparatus play a direct role in regulating cell proliferation.
A wide variety of antibiotics currently used to treat bacterial infections target the ribosome. The overuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria, posing a serious risk to public health. There is a real need to develop new antibiotics against bacterial infections. Understanding the mechanism of translation will provide insights into the action of currently used antibiotics and may ultimately lead to the rational design of novel, more effective therapeutic reagents against bacteria and parasites.
Since immunocompromised cancer patients are often susceptible to opportunistic infections, these studies have clear relevance to this disease.
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