Soldat Supercomputing's video: Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

Our chosen target is a protein known as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is a member of the kinase family of human proteins. Kinases are key components in cellular signaling pathways, which control and coordinate all cellular activities. When kinases are activated, they pass messages to other proteins by attaching small phosphate molecules to specific parts of their structure. For proper regulation of signaling pathways, the cell must also be able to temporarily inactivate kinases. However, mutations in kinase genes may cause them to become constantly active, resulting in overactivation of the associated signaling pathways. In some cases, this causes the cell to begin dividing and growing uncontrollably, and this chain of events is the cause of many types of cancer. EGFR mutations are specifically associated with certain types of cancer of the lung, breast, colon, rectum, and brain. Although a small number of anti-EGFR drugs are available (for example, gefitinib, erlotinib, and cetuximab), the development of resistance mutations during treatment is a huge barrier to their effective use. View our team's stats here: http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=222865