Shuo Wei
University of Delaware, DE·Biochemistry
Cells constantly read their neighbors' surfaces to decide where to move, what to become, and how tightly to stick together. One of the main systems for this uses ephrin proteins anchored on one cell surface and Eph receptors on another; the pair touches and triggers signals inside both cells.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Biology
Neuroscience
- Topics
ephrinB
Eph receptor
ADAM proteases
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2030
What they work on
- Test how cleavage of ephrinB proteins by ADAM family cell-surface proteases alters downstream Eph receptor signaling and cell-cell adhesion, using engineered uncleavable ephrinB mutants carrying mutated ADAM cleavage sites.
- Determine how ephrinB shedding is triggered by Eph receptor binding, extending to class B ephrins a regulatory mechanism documented mainly for class A ephrins.
- Characterize the newly identified crosstalk in which ADAM-ephrinB interactions activate a distinct branch of beta-catenin signaling that is required for normal neuronal function.
More about the research
This machinery operates in nearly every tissue, and when it misfires the consequences include developmental defects, autoimmunity, tumors and neurological disorders. This project asks how ephrin signaling is switched off or redirected by being cut.
Why it matters
EphrinB proteins govern cell-cell communication and adhesion, and their malfunction contributes to birth defects, tumors and neurological disorders. Defining which enzymes cut these proteins, where they cut, and what the cut changes would clarify how the pathway is normally tuned and how it goes wrong in disease, pointing to the proteases and signaling branches that might eventually be targeted therapeutically.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Rajat Rohatgi
Stanford University, CA·Biochemistry
Map the components and signaling steps of the pathway connecting N-glycosylation in the endoplasmic reticulum to WNT reception at the cell surface, using genome-wide CRISPR screens and mass spectrometry.
Heinrich Gottlinger
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, MA·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how ADAM10, a membrane-anchored protease incorporated into HIV-1 particles, affects virus infectivity and cell-to-cell transmission, including whether other cellular ADAM10 substrates contribute to the block.
Jennifer Kong
University of Washington, WA·Biochemistry
Define the principles by which membrane-tethered E3 ubiquitin ligases, enzymes that tag proteins for destruction, recognize and target cell-surface receptors, mapping their target networks with mass spectrometry and biochemistry.
The school
University of Delaware: 22 labs on PI Pages, $466M a year on research, 298 research doctorates a year.
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