Released on: March 28, 2008, 10:29 am

Press Release Author: GTCbio

Industry:

Press Release Summary: Dr. Susan Taylor, Professor of Pharmacology at UCSD, will be
giving the Featured Presentation at GTCbio's 3rd Protein Kinase in Drug Discovery
Conference on May 5-6, 2008 in San Diego, CA.



Press Release Body: MONROVIA, CA - Dr. Susan Taylor, Professor of Pharmacology at
UCSD, will be giving the Featured Presentation at GTCbio's 3rd Protein Kinase in
Drug Discovery Conference on May 5-6, 2008 in San Diego, CA.

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. Our 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


Web Site: http://www.gtcbio.com

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