Dr. Susan Taylor to Give Featured Presentation at GTCbio’s 3rd Protein Kinase in Drug Discovery Conference

Monrovia, CA, March 30, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Dr. Taylor will provide an overview on the protein kinase superfamily, which is one of the largest and most important for biology. These enzymes serve as master switches for regulating a myriad of biological functions. They are not only catalysts that mediate the transfer of a phosphate from ATP to protein substrates but they are also scaffolds that mediate protein:protein interactions. Dr. Taylor will specifically discuss PKA, one of the best understood members of this family, and how it serves as a prototype for catalysis and also defines a dynamic range of docking sites through its interactions with protein substrates and inhibitors. She will elaborate on the structure of holoenzyme complexes with RI, RII and RII and show how the large lobe of the C-subunit serves as a multivalent scaffold. In addition, Dr. Taylor will illustrate how peptide diversity at the active site cleft contributes to function. Dr. Taylor will show how analysis of PKA interactions can be applied to explain the general mechanisms for how a conserved kinase core provides multivalent docking surfaces for other proteins.

As Professor of Pharmacology at UCSD, Dr. Taylor’s research led to solving the crystal structure of the first protein kinase in 1991, providing a template for this entire family of essential regulatory enzymes. Understanding the structure and function of cAMP-dependent protein kinase and the molecular basis for its regulation, localization and dynamics continues to provide an ideal interdisciplinary system for coupling technological advances in computation and biophysics.

GTCbio’s 3rd Protein Kinase in Drug Discovery Conference on May 5-6, 2008 in San Diego, CA will also cover Kinase Drug Design, Kinase Targets and Inhibitors in CNS Disorders, Oncology, and Inflammatory Disorders, as well as New Technologies in Screening and Identification of Targets and Inhibitors.

The conference also features presentations from other leading organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Salk Institute, AstraZeneca, Methylgene, UCSD, and many more. The full agenda is available online at www.gtcbio.com.

For more information including a detailed agenda, exhibitor opportunities and registration information visit http://gtcbio.com/userAgenda.aspx?id=121.

ABOUT GTCbio
GTCbio organizes conferences specifically for the biomedical and biopharmaceutical industries. Their goal is to facilitate the exchange of biopharmaceutical and biomedical intelligence between industry leaders, academic and government organizations, and the financial community.

GTCbio is a subsidiary of Global Technology Community, LLC, a privately held company founded in 2002.

Contact: GTCBIO (626) 256-6405, (626) 256-6460 fax, infogtcbio@gtcbio.com

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