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Explore Research Tools by Pathway

ACE Inhibitor Pathway

Angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE, is a central component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which controls blood pressure by regulating the volume of fluids in the body. ACE inhibitors are of medical use as treatment of cardiovascular diseases...

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a highly regulated process offering an organized way for an organism to dispose of cells that are no longer needed. It is initiated either through a specific class of death receptors or intrinsic factors such as DNA damage. Apoptosis is mainly driven by caspase proteases and further regulated by Bcl-2 and inhibitor proteins. Dysregulation of this programmed cell death is oftentimes associated with cancer.

Autophagy

Autophagy is the regulated, self-degradative process of the cell that disassembles unnecessary or dysfunctional components. The lysosomal pathway is evolutionarily conserved and initiates engulfment, degradation and recycling of cellular contents including long-lived proteins and organelles thus promoting cell survival.

Cancer Immune Checkpoints

Immune checkpoints are receptors on the membrane of T-lymphocytes that can alternate their immune response. They thus regulate the immune response either via stimulation or inhibition. The pathway is crucial to promote self-tolerance and prevent autoimmunity and related diseases.

Cell Division Cycle

Cell division unfolds in four stages - G1, S, G2, and M phase – depending on a number of internal or external signals. Progression through the different phases is driven by cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) and their activators, the cyclins. Additionally, their activity is further modulated by CDK inhibitors. Tight control of the cell cycle is essential to maintain proper cell homeostasis.

Complement System

The complement system is part of the innate immune system and plays an important role in host defense, inflammation, tissue regeneration and other physiological processes. Depending on the invading pathogen it follows three established pathways: the classical, lectin, or alternative pathway.

DNA Damage Repair

In any organism, various DNA repair mechanisms assure the integrity of the genetic information that is contained in the nucleus of every cell. The crucial significance of keeping the DNA intact is reflected by the number of different DNA repair pathways and the various proteins involved in these processes.

Hedgehog Signaling

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling cascade is one of the most important determinants for many developmental processes. Gene products of the targeted genes determine cellular stemness, renewal, survival, and migration. Deregulation of the Hh signal proteins and downstream effectors is pivotal during cancer progression.

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) in Adaptive Immune Response

The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) comprises a number of genes that occur in many species. The encoded proteins help the immune system to tell the body's own proteins apart from those of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoans. In humans, MHC proteins are encoded by the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA), a group of more than 200 genes located closely together on the short arm of chromosome 6.

Inflammasome

Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes located in the cytosol. Typically, they consist of a sensor protein, an adaptor protein containing an caspase recruitment domain, and a pro-inflammatory caspase. In case of the NLRP3 inflammasome, presently the best characterized inflammasome, the respective proteins are NLRP3, ASC/PYCARD, and CASP1.

JAK-STAT Signaling

JAK-STAT signaling is highly conserved in vertebrates and even some other metazoans. The combination of receptor activated kinases and transcription factors make this signaling cascade one of the central cellular regulatory pathways.

Lipid Metabolism

Lipids are omnipresent in a multitude of vital cell processes. Cells use lipids to store energy, build membranes, signal within and between cells, sense the environment, covalently modify proteins, form specialized permeability barriers (e.g., in skin), and protect cells from highly reactive chemicals.

MAPK Signaling

Phosphorylation is the reversible process of attaching a phosphate group to a specific amino-acid residue on a protein. Functionally, phosphorylation acts as a simple molecular switch that can activate, deactivate, or modulate the function of a protein. Addition and removal of phosphate groups provide spatial and temporal control over protein activity.

Microtubule Dynamics

Microtubules are highly-dynamic structural and functional intracellular highways. The term cytoskeleton conjures up an image of rigid, immutable, and permanent structure. In reality, the cytoskeleton is a highly dynamic interconnected network composed of three different principal components: microtubules ...

NF-kappaB Signaling

NF-kB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) represent a group of homo- or heterodimeric transcription factors that are central in a network of various signal transduction pathways. A vast array of signals such as cytokines, growth factors and hormones, infections, oxidative stress,...

Notch Signaling

The highly-conserved Notch signaling pathway is unique, as both the Notch receptor and most of its respective ligands...

p53 Signaling

p53 is one of the most prominent tumor suppressors and is often called “the guardian of the genome”. Mutations of p53 or parts of its regulatory circuit are found in almost all cancers, which highlights its importance. It is conserving the stability of the genome by preventing mutations caused by cellular stress or DNA damage. p53 stabilizes the...

PI3K-Akt Signaling

The PI3K/Akt pathway is pivotal for cellular homeostasis, neurological development, metabolism, and other processes. It regulates various aspects of cellular development such as apoptosis, cell cycle progression, and cell differentiation. The key regulator of the PI3K/Akt pathway is Akt/PKB, a family of three closely related serine/threonine-protein kinases...

RTK Signaling

Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) are membrane bound kinases that are activated upon binding of receptor specific ligands. They make up the largest class of membrane receptors that trigger signaling cascades through their inherent enzymatic activity.

SARS-CoV-2 Protein Interactome

SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA beta coronavirus belonging to the order of nidovirales. In the first three months since its initial identification in December 2019 SARS-CoV-2 has caused more than 800.000 confirmed cases and over 40.000 fatalities worldwide of the associated severe acute respiratory syndrome COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019)

TCR Signaling

The T-Cell Receptor (TCR) is a protein complex on the surface of T-cell responsible for the recognition of antigens on the surface of antigen presenting cells (APC). Cell surface glycoproteins CD4 and CD8 serve as coreceptors with the TCR primarily for the interaction with the major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) loaded with peptides derived from cytosolic proteins and MHC I with extracellular protein peptides respectively. Activation of the TCR induces a number of signaling cascades, ultimately leading to the transcription of several gene products essential for T cells differentiation, proliferation and secretion of a number of cytokines.

The Global Phosphorylation Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

In the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic no vaccine has been approved as of yet. The Phosphorylation Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Infection presented here is a step towards a deeper understanding of virus-host relationship and vaccine development.

TLR Signaling

Toll-like receptors play an essential in the innate immune response against various pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. TLRs elicit one of two conserved inflammatory pathways: either the TRIF- or the MyD88 dependent pathway. Besides, TLR signaling also induces dendritic cell maturation and the adaptive immune response.