The Ferguson Lab at YSM

Dr. Ferguson

We are supporting Dr Shawn Ferguson, PhD Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Yale on his research that will use human neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and a genome edited mouse model as platforms to identify molecular mechanisms that underlie human disease arising from MAPK8IP3 mutations. He also seeks to use inisghts arising from these studies to identify candidate therapeutic strategies to treat disabilities arising from MAPK8IP3 deficiency. Shawn is engaging in our most concentrated protein characterization study of this mutation. In particular, the Ferguson lab seeks to define how MAPK8IP3 disease causing mutations affect the ability of the MAPK8IP3/JIP3 protein to act as a scaffold that interacts with and organizes the functions of other cellular proteins that support neuronal lysosome function. These efforts have recently been guided by the use of Alphafold, a powerful AI-based tool for protein structure predictions. This video shows a model of a dimer of 2 MAPK8IP3/JIP3 proteins colored red and blue respectively. The locations of selected disease causing mutations have been highlighted within this model.