MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit student wins Poster Competition.
Elton Zeqiraj, who holds a Tenovus Studentship and is jointly supervised by Daan van Aalten, a structural biologist in the College of Life Sciences (CLS) at the University of Dundee and Dario Alessi in the MRC-PPU, was awarded first prize at the Scientific Poster competition held during the annual CLS Retreat at the Crieff Hydro Hotel, Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland during the weekend of March 13th-15th.
Elton's poster presented the work that he has been undertaking characterising the mechanism by which the LKB1 tumour suppressor is activated by binding to its regulatory subunits STRAD and MO25. Work by other members of Dario's Research Group has shown that LKB1 acts as a tumour suppressor by switching on the AMP-activated protein kinase and other protein kinases in the same subfamily. The judges placed Elton's poster ahead of the other 54 entries for the quality of the poster itself, but also for the tremendous achievement in defining how the STRAD pseudokinase activates LKB1.
John Rouse, the Head of the judging panel said:
"The work that Elton has undertaken to address how the LKB1 tumour suppressor may be activated is a major achievement, not only in technical terms but also because it represents such a big step forward in our understanding of how this important molecule works at the molecular level. Elton's poster was beautifully designed and his findings were presented in a way that made them easily accessible to non–specialists. These factors, made Elton a clear winner."
Elton's poster presented the work that he has been undertaking characterising the mechanism by which the LKB1 tumour suppressor is activated by binding to its regulatory subunits STRAD and MO25. Work by other members of Dario's Research Group has shown that LKB1 acts as a tumour suppressor by switching on the AMP-activated protein kinase and other protein kinases in the same subfamily. The judges placed Elton's poster ahead of the other 54 entries for the quality of the poster itself, but also for the tremendous achievement in defining how the STRAD pseudokinase activates LKB1.
John Rouse, the Head of the judging panel said:
"The work that Elton has undertaken to address how the LKB1 tumour suppressor may be activated is a major achievement, not only in technical terms but also because it represents such a big step forward in our understanding of how this important molecule works at the molecular level. Elton's poster was beautifully designed and his findings were presented in a way that made them easily accessible to non–specialists. These factors, made Elton a clear winner."