Jesse Rinehart PhD

Assistant Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology

Research Interests

Ion Transport; Kinase/Kinome Interactions in Physiological Systems; System-Wide & Targeted Phosphoproteomics; Protein Engineering

Research Summary

Our laboratory is focused on the discovery and characterization of novel sites of phosphorylation in kinases and regulatory networks of proteins that control electrolyte homeostasis. Our long term goal is to understand and “decode” complex signaling networks in physiological systems. Our research integrates cutting edge proteomics with mainstay techniques of molecular biology and physiology, to study signaling networks and provide critical new insight into regulated ion transport. We are focusing on mechanisms of cellular signaling transduction that involve protein phosphorylation. Many of the cellular signaling mechanisms that are disrupted in disease states, and are assumed to be fundamental for normal cellular physiology, are largely uncharacterized and hold a vast amount of therapeutic potential. Understanding the human phosphoproteome is a major challenge as research continues ever farther into the post genome era. We therefore employ established quantitative proteomic techniques, and aim to develop novel methods, in an effort to decode new signaling pathways. We aim to find new roles for kinases, phosphatases, their substrates, and protein-protein interactions on a system-wide level. Collectively, we hope these efforts will identify molecular mechanisms important for both healthy and disease states in humans.

Selected Publications