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Pilkington, Ruth
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Pilkington, Ruth
Official Name
Pilkington, Ruth
Research Output
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
- PublicationExtensive rewiring of the EGFR network in colorectal cancer cells expressing transforming levels of KRAS G13D(Springer, 2020-01-24)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Protein-protein-interaction networks (PPINs) organize fundamental biological processes, but how oncogenic mutations impact these interactions and their functions at a network-level scale is poorly understood. Here, we analyze how a common oncogenic KRAS mutation (KRASG13D) affects PPIN structure and function of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) network in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Mapping >6000 PPIs shows that this network is extensively rewired in cells expressing transforming levels of KRASG13D (mtKRAS). The factors driving PPIN rewiring are multifactorial including changes in protein expression and phosphorylation. Mathematical modelling also suggests that the binding dynamics of low and high affinity KRAS interactors contribute to rewiring. PPIN rewiring substantially alters the composition of protein complexes, signal flow, transcriptional regulation, and cellular phenotype. These changes are validated by targeted and global experimental analysis. Importantly, genetic alterations in the most extensively rewired PPIN nodes occur frequently in CRC and are prognostic of poor patient outcomes.106 - PublicationSignaling pathway models as biomarkers: Patient-specific simulations of JNK activity predict the survival of neuroblastoma patients(American Society for the Advancement of Science, 2015-12-22)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Signaling pathways control cell fate decisions that ultimately determine the behavior of cancer cells. Therefore, the dynamics of pathway activity may contain prognostically relevant information different from that contained in the static nature of other types of biomarkers. To investigate this hypothesis, we characterized the network that regulated stress signaling by the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway in neuroblastoma cells. We generated an experimentally calibrated and validated computational model of this network and used the model to extract prognostic information from neuroblastoma patient–specific simulations of JNK activation. Switch-like JNK activation mediates cell death by apoptosis. An inability to initiate switch-like JNK activation in the simulations was significantly associated with poor overall survival for patients with neuroblastoma with or without MYCN amplification, indicating that patient-specific simulations of JNK activation could stratify patients. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrated that extracting information about a signaling pathway to develop a prognostically useful model requires understanding of not only components and disease-associated changes in the abundance or activity of the components but also how those changes affect pathway dynamics.1126Scopus© Citations 100 - PublicationOn-Beads Digestion in Conjunction with Data-Dependent Mass Spectrometry: A Shortcut to Quantitative and Dynamic Interaction Proteomics(MDPI, 2014-04-16)
; ; ; ; ; With the advent of the '-omics' era, biological research has shifted from functionally analyzing single proteins to understanding how entire protein networks connect and adapt to environmental cues. Frequently, pathological processes are initiated by a malfunctioning protein network rather than a single protein. It is therefore crucial to investigate the regulation of proteins in the context of a pathway first and signaling network second. In this study, we demonstrate that a quantitative interaction proteomic approach, combining immunoprecipitation, in-solution digestion and label-free quantification mass spectrometry, provides data of high accuracy and depth. This protocol is applicable, both to tagged, exogenous and untagged, endogenous proteins. Furthermore, it is fast, reliable and, due to a label-free quantitation approach, allows the comparison of multiple conditions. We further show that we are able to generate data in a medium throughput fashion and that we can quantify dynamic interaction changes in signaling pathways in response to mitogenic stimuli, making our approach a suitable method to generate data for system biology approaches.234Scopus© Citations 91 - PublicationSubstrate-Trapped Interactors of PHD3 and FIH Cluster in Distinct Signaling Pathways(Elsevier, 2016-03-22)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Amino acid hydroxylation is a post-translational modification that regulates intra- and inter-molecular protein-protein interactions. The modifications are regulated by a family of 2-oxoglutarate- (2OG) dependent enzymes and, although the biochemistry is well understood, until now only a few substrates have been described for these enzymes. Using quantitative interaction proteomics, we screened for substrates of the proline hydroxylase PHD3 and the asparagine hydroxylase FIH, which regulate the HIF-mediated hypoxic response. We were able to identify hundreds of potential substrates. Enrichment analysis revealed that the potential substrates of both hydroxylases cluster in the same pathways but frequently modify different nodes of signaling networks. We confirm that two proteins identified in our screen, MAPK6 (Erk3) and RIPK4, are indeed hydroxylated in a FIH- or PHD3-dependent mechanism. We further determined that FIH-dependent hydroxylation regulates RIPK4-dependent Wnt signaling, and that PHD3-dependent hydroxylation of MAPK6 protects the protein from proteasomal degradation.262Scopus© Citations 59 - PublicationPhosphorylation of RAF Kinase Dimers Drives Conformational Changes that Facilitate Transactivation(Wiley, 2015-12-08)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; RAF kinases are key players in the MAPK signaling pathway and are important targets for personalized cancer therapy. RAF dimerization is part of the physiological activation mechanism, together with phosphorylation, and is known to convey resistance to RAF inhibitors. Herein, molecular dynamics simulations are used to show that phosphorylation of a key N-terminal acidic (NtA) motif facilitates RAF dimerization by introducing several interprotomer salt bridges between the αC-helix and charged residues upstream of the NtA motif. Additionally, we show that the R-spine of RAF interacts with a conserved Trp residue in the vicinity of the NtA motif, connecting the active sites of two protomers and thereby modulating the cooperative interactions in the RAF dimer. Our findings provide a first structure-based mechanism for the auto-transactivation of RAF and could be generally applicable to other kinases, opening new pathways for overcoming dimerization-related drug resistance.230Scopus© Citations 33