Decoding Cellular Signaling and Proteolytic Regulation
All kingdoms of life have evolved to sense signals such as light, gravity, temperature, oxygen, metabolites, and hormones. Once perceived, these signals are transduced into precise developmental and physiological responses through dynamic cellular reprogramming. Our research aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying signal perception, recognition, and propagation within cells. Our research has been focused on the investigation of the ubiquitin proteasome system, light signaling pathways, and plant hormone sensing mechanisms.
We are particularly interested in characterizing signal transduction pathways triggered by environmental stimuli in plants. How do specific biochemical and structural adaptations enable biomolecular sensors to rapidly engage downstream regulatory factors such as ubiquitin ligases, receptors, or transcription factors? Many of these fundamental mechanisms remain poorly understood across biological systems. In the Shabek Lab, we address these challenges by integrating structural biology approaches — including X-ray crystallography and Cryo-EM — with biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, plant biology, quantitative proteomics, live protein interactome profiling, and metabolomics to uncover the dynamic molecular networks that govern cellular signaling.
Read more about our main avenues of research (click on the links below):
Plant hormone signaling
Light signaling pathways
Ubiquitin biology
Applied research and biotechnology
The research in the Shabek Lab is supported by:
The National Science Foundation (NSF-MCB EAGER, NSF-MCB CAREER, and NSF-IOS Awards)
The Department of Energy (DOE) – BER
OerthBio LLC (Bayer & Arvinas)
UC Davis (Innovation and Creativity Award and Academic Senate Large Research Grants)
UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Core Center (EHSCC) Seed Grant
Students Fellowships include:
The National Institute of Health (NIH) T32 Training Grant and Outstanding Investigator Award (R35)
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA-NIFA
NSF – Bioindustrial Engineering for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST training grant)
BARD, US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund
The Green Initiative Fellowship (TGIF)
Provost Undergrad Research Fellowships (PUFs)
Elsie Taylor Stocking Fellowship
Simon Chan Memorial Fellowship
