Anne Robinson, Ph.D., Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, "Cell-based assay development and in vitro determination of adenosine receptor protein-protein and protein-ligand binding events"

Speaker:

Anne Skaja Robinson, Ph.D.

Trustee Professor of Chemical Engineering,

Carnegie Mellon University

Title: Cell-based assay development and in vitro determination of adenosine receptor protein-protein and protein-ligand binding events

Abstract:

G protein-coupled Receptors (GPCRs), the largest group of membrane proteins in the human body, are pharmaceutical targets of ~35% of all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs, making them essential current and future drug targets. GPCRs are ideal small-molecule and antibody targets due to their location at the cell membrane and ability to regulate diverse physiological processes. The adenosine receptor subfamily of GPCRs is an essential family of membrane receptors that modulate blood pressure, inflammation, and the immune response. As a result, they have been implicated in cancer, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and diabetes, making them a significant fraction of drug discovery efforts. In this talk, I will discuss our studies developing cell-based signaling assays for yeast and mammalian cells, using the adenosine A 2A receptor (A 2A R) as a prototypical GPCR target. In addition, I will describe the in-depth biophysical characterization of A 2A R in micelles and nanodiscs and how their membrane environment affects activity, including G protein association and ligand binding kinetics. Both in vivo and in vitro characterization are essential for understanding fundamental biological features and drug development for this important class of membrane proteins.

Bio:

Anne Skaja Robinson is Trustee Professor of Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, where she served as Department Head from 2018-2023. She started her academic career at the University of Delaware, where she ultimately became a Full Professor and Associate Chair in Chemical Engineering prior to being both Professor and Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tulane from 2012-2018.

Having received both her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Robinson has earned many honors, including a DuPont Young Professor Award, a National Science Foundation Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering, and most recently (2022) the Marvin Johnson Award from the BIOT division of the American Chemical Society. She has graduated over 30 PhD students and published over 100 journal articles on protein expression and protein refolding. Dr. Robinson is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.