Signal Transduction Research

Division of Signal Transduction

The Division of Signal Transduction at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is dedicated to advancing our understanding of cellular signaling pathways and their roles in diseases such as cancer and metabolic disorders. Under the leadership of Dr. Alex Toker, who serves as Chief of the Division, Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, and Associate Director of the Cancer Research Institute at BIDMC, the division focuses on several key research areas:

• Cell signaling
• Chemical biology of cell signaling
• Growth factors and receptor tyrosine kinases
• Phosphoinositide hinases
• Signaling pathways in cell movement, adhesion and growth

Signal Transduction & Cancer Metabolism

The major research objective of our laboratory is to understand the biochemical and genetic basis for cell growth regulation by growth factors and hormones.

Research from our laboratory has led to the elucidation of a pathway by which growth factors stimulate nutrient uptake and cellular metabolism, leading to increased cell growth and cell survival. Defects in homeostatic control of this signaling network can lead to cancers or to diabetes or metabolic disease. A central node in this network is the enzyme phosphoinositide 3-kinase.

In order to explore the in vivo role of this network, we are generating mice in which components of the network can be switched on or off to determine their effects on cancers and other diseases.