Why this Project?
Protein-protein interactions play important roles in almost all physiological processes in living organisms. However, weak or transient interactions induced by radiation are challenging to detect.
Project Goals
- To investigate the dynamics of potential radiation-induced complexes associated with a specific histone protein- H2AX, a critical factor in the DNA repair pathways in mammalian cells.
- To explore the roles of Ca 2+ binding and signaling pathways in the repair of irradiated cells.
Experimental Approach
This project employs mass spectrometry, amino acid-coded mass tagging and affinity purification to develop a quantitative “dual-tagging” proteomic procedure for detecting functional protein-protein interaction.
Expected Outcomes
To determine if alterations in Ca 2+ binding/signaling plays a critical role in regulating radiation-induced cell cycle arrest. We will determine if this functional change is due to alterations in chromatin structure.
