Paul Elliott
MRC Career Development Fellow
Ubiquitin regulation of inflammatory signalling
Our research investigates the molecular mechanisms by which ubiquitin regulates cellular processes, in particular inflammatory signalling pathways.
Post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins provides a mechanism for rapid regulation of a broad range of cellular signalling pathways. The covalent attachment of the small protein ubiquitin to substrates is one of the main types of PTM. Ubiquitin regulatory versatility is achieved through the formation of a ubiquitin code. Dedicated 'writers' assemble the code, 'readers' decipher the code and 'erasers' reverse the code.
The importance of defined ubiquitin chains is underscored in inflammatory signalling pathways as defects in the ability to regulate levels of particular ubiquitin chain types is causative of several human auto-inflammatory and immuno-deficiency diseases. Our lab uses an integrated structural, biochemical and biophysical approach to investigate how the ubiquitin code regulates inflammatory signalling.