Lab overview
The communication between cells and their environment depends on a finely tuned decoding of extracellular cues into an array of intracellular signaling cascades that drive a cellular response. These signals are integrated through highly dynamic and context specific signaling networks that collectively define the phenotypic output. Given the complexity and dynamic state of signaling networks, the current understanding of their constituents and how they are spatiotemporally regulated in the cell as a result of a specific input is incomplete.
The Huttenhain lab studies mechanisms of intracellular signal integration through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) by employing an interdisciplinary approach to probe, model, and predict how signaling network dynamics translate extracellular cues into specific phenotypic outputs. GPCRs represent the largest family of membrane receptors and mediate most of our physiological responses to hormones, neurotransmitters and environmental stimulants. Developing quantitative proteomics approaches to capture the spatiotemporal organization of signaling networks and combining these with functional genomics to study their impact on physiology, we aim to better understand GPCR signaling and to provide a solid foundation for the design and testing of novel therapeutics targeting GPCRs with higher specificity and efficacy.
Relevant publications
- Lobingier B, Hüttenhain R, Eichel K, Ting AY, Miller KB, von Zastrow M, Krogan NJ. (2017) An approach to spatiotemporally resolve protein interaction networks in living cells. Cell 169, 350-360. PMC5616215.
- Polacco BJ, Lobingier BT, Blythe EE, Abreu N, Xu J, Li Q, Naing ZZC, Shoichet BK, Levitz J, Krogan NJ, Von Zastrow M, Hüttenhain R. (2022) Profiling the diversity of agonist-selective effects on the proximal proteome environment of G protein-coupled receptors. bioRxiv 2022.03.28.486115
- Zhong X, Li Q, Polacco BJ, Patil T, DiBerto JF, Vartak R, Xu J, Marley A, Foussard H, Roth BL, Eckhardt M, Von Zastrow M, Krogan NJ, Hüttenhain R. (2023) An automated proximity proteomics pipeline for subcellular proteome and protein interaction mapping. bioRxiv 2023.04.11.536358