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Tae Ji
Professor of Chemistry (Biological Chemistry)
How to develop ideal hormone drugs with few or no toxic side effects ?
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Luteinizing hormone (LH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are glycoprotein hormones, and play the key role in the regulation of ovulation and pregnancy. These hormones bind to the LH receptor, which generates hormone signals and triggers the hormone actions. The summer undergrad research project is designed to determine which part of the receptor generates the hormone signals.
The LH receptor consists of the ~350 amino acid long N-terminal extracellular exodomain and a C-terminal membrane associated endodomain of similar size. The exodomain is responsible for high |
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affinity hormone binding, whereas the hormone signals are generated in the endodomain. The &alpha and &beta subunits of hCG are thought to initially bind to the exodomain with high affinity, and the resulting hormone/exodomain complex modulates the endodomain to generate two distinct hormone signals to produce cAMP and inositol phosphate. The summer student will test the hypothesis that hCG interacts with exoloop 3 and generates the hormone signals. |
Further details of Dr. Ji's work are given on the Chemistry website. |
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