Dr. John G. Koland, an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine has received a new grant, “Self-phosphorylation mechanisms of HER/ErbB family receptors,” from the Oberley Seed Grant Program of the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Adrian H. Elcock of the Department of Biochemistry is a Co-Investigator on the grant.  This project is an investigation of the mechanisms by which protein tyrosine kinases in the epidermal growth factor receptor (HER/ErbB) family become phosphorylated upon their activation.  The investigators would use molecular simulations to study the conformational dynamics of the large, apparently disordered C-terminal phosphorylation domains of these receptors and to elucidate mechanisms of site selectively in their phosphorylation.  The research will also examine newly proposed regulatory mechanisms involving the C-terminal phosphorylation domains.  The accuracy and predictive abilities of computer simulations will be assessed by complementary biochemical analyses.  It is hope that this work will yield a new understanding of HER/ErbB activation in cancerous cells, as well as test new approaches for the molecule simulation of large protein systems.