Egon Ogris Lab

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a prime example of the multisubunit architecture of protein serine/threonine phosphatases. The PP2A catalytic C subunit achieves substrate specificity and targeting by complex formation with the structural A and the regulatory B-type subunits. More than 70 different holoenzymes can be assembled from the large pool of PP2A regulatory subunits. Not surprisingly, PP2A has been implicated in many different cellular processes including signal transduction pathways, cell cycle regulation or programmed cell death and its malfunction is associated with the pathogenesis of diseases as diverse as cancer and Alzheimer disease. However, our knowledge of PP2A‘s role in these processes is still very limited because we lack a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of PP2A holoenzyme assembly and the signalling processes that regulate PP2A assembly and biogenesis within a cell. Thus, the research goal of the Ogris lab is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of PP2A biogenesis and its regulation by biochemical, immunological and genetic approaches in yeast and in mammalian cells.