Our research has been focused on identification of intracellular proteins with potential functions during signal transduction and growth control, which resulted in the identification of Oncoprotein 18/stathmin (Op18). The complex pattern of phosphorylation together with the observed up-regulation of Op18 in several types of human malignancies, suggested to us that this protein may have a central role in cell signaling. We have identified the function of Op18 as a phosphorylation-responsive regulator of microtubule dynamics and linked Op18 phosphorylation to regulation of microtubule dynamics in response to both external and cell cycle signals. Identification of homologous proteins reveals that Op18 represent a prototype of a new family of microtubule regulators. Read More (Martin Gullberg at Molecular Biology)

PI: Martin Gullberg