Summary
In this project we will develop and explore dynamic PamChip peptide arrays technology for phosphatase activity measurements. This NPC project is a collaboration between Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Utrecht University), the Hubrecht Institute and the Dutch Biotech company PamGene International B.V.
While kinases play a pivotal role in cell signaling by phosphorylating signaling proteins, phosphates are their counterpart, which remove the phosphate group from these proteins. The technology and methods we will develop will be applied in three different ways: (1) to investigate phosphatases in purified (recombinant) form, (2) to profile these enzymes’ activities in extracts from cell lines and (tumor) tissues, and (3) to characterize potency and selectivity of phosphatase inhibitor drugs, compounds and agents (including siRNA). This phosphatase profiling method will be combined with the already available technique of kinase profiling (applied in NPC-I). This integrated approach enables functional proteomics studies on (two) enzymatic levels (phosphatase and kinase) relevant to pharmaceutical drug discovery and development.