Research Inspiration

Cells represent the basic units of life, tiny factories in which the myriad processes essential for life are carried out. Proteins serve as the ‘molecular machinery’ within these factories, working together in intricate and delicately balanced networks. Obtaining an understanding of these networks is crucial to unlocking the inner-workings of the cell, and in turn the fundamental biology behind all living organisms.

Our lab is dedicated to the development and application of technologies useful for mapping these interaction networks. Much of our work is conducted using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a unicellular eukaryote whose relatively simple biology makes it a powerful tool for the understanding of the processes occurring in more complex organisms. To date, use of our yeast-based methodologies has been invaluable in helping us identify and characterize protein interactions and functions from yeast, humans and pathogenic microorganisms. Additionally, our lab works directly with human cell lines, both to validate results as well as to develop tools for the direct assessment of interactions in the mammalian cellular milieu.

In the Stagljar lab we are dedicated to performing cutting-edge research in interactive proteomics, with the goal of ultimately attaining a comprehensive understanding of the cell. Armed with the knowledge of the pathways and mechanisms underlying cellular processes, researchers will be able to develop therapies to combat human disease and technologies to improve the quality of life as a whole.