Fluorogenic Probes of Tyrosine Phosphatase Activity: Chemical Probes put Phosphotyrosine Dependent Cellular signaling in the Spotlight

Dr. Amy Barrios, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah (Host: Prof. Tim Bugni)

Research in the Barrios lab focuses on developing chemical tools that can be applied to further our understanding of important biological processes.  Specifically, we have developed several novel approaches to monitoring intracellular tyrosine phosphatase activity using fluorogenic substrates with the aim of elucidating the roles of the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) family of enzymes in cellular signaling pathways.  We are now working to develop a unified approach to PTP-selective substrate and inhibitor design and providing the toolkit necessary to elucidate the biological roles of PTPs in health and disease.