People
Jane Endicott
- Professor of Cancer Structural Biology
Newcastle University Translational and Clinical Research Institute - Email: jane.endicott@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 4422
- Mechanisms controlling the eukaryotic cell cycle.
Use of X-ray crystallography to determine structures for the protein complexes that drive cell cycle progression.
- See a full publication list here.
Sequential activation of members of the cyclin-dependent protein kinase family (CDKs) orders the events required for DNA replication and cell division. CDKs are controlled through mechanisms that include inhibitory phosphorylation, association with regulatory proteins, and sub-cellular localisation. Our research continues to combine a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques together with structure determination by X-ray crystallography to elucidate the structure/function relationships of members of the CDK family and their associated regulators. Loss of CDK regulation has been genetically linked to the development of human cancers and there is considerable interest in the development of selective CDK inhibitors as novel therapeutics.
Current research areas include (i) Elaboration of the structural consequences of CDK phosphorylation; (ii) Characterisation of the interactions between CDKs and their regulatory molecules; (iii) Characterisation of molecular complexes responsible for targeted degradation of CDK regulatory proteins; and (iv) Development of small molecule CDK inhibitors and inhibitors that target interactions between CDK/cyclin complexes or MDM2 and their essential regulators.