WEHI Inflammation Special Seminar hosted by Professor James Murphy

Associate Professor Vinnie Tagliabracci

Michael L. Rosenberg Scholar in Medical Research

Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Development and Disease

UT Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Expanding the kinome

Davis Auditorium

Join via TEAMS

Including Q&A session

My laboratory has made significant advancements in understanding the unconventional roles of uncharacterized and understudied protein kinases and pseudokinases. Over the past ten years, we have uncovered unexpected biochemical functions within this protein family, including AMPylation, polyglutamylation, and mRNA capping via RNAylation. Our approach employs a multifaceted strategy, beginning with the bioinformatic identification of atypical family members. We then use biochemistry, structural biology, and mass spectrometry to reveal unique functions and previously undiscovered enzymatic activities that could not have been predicted a priori.

While traditional sequence-based bioinformatics approaches have been highly effective in identifying new kinase families, integrating AI-driven tools like AlphaFold into our experimental pipeline has been a transformative advancement. In this lecture, I will present two recent discoveries from my laboratory that harnessed AI to identify orphan kinases in the ether lipid and isoprenoid salvage pathways.

All welcome!