Our Research

The Clurman lab studies protein degradation, cell division, and carcinogenesis. This research has led to fundamental discoveries about how cell division and protein ubiquitylation are regulated in normal cells, and their associations with cancer. Our approach has been to employ whatever methods are needed to make mechanistic and physiologic advances, and these methods have included biochemistry, cell biology, proteomics, and gene targeting in human cells and mice. As a result, our work has often revealed surprising findings in well-studied pathways. We have had a particularly sustained impact in studies on the Fbw7 ubiquitin ligase, which sits at the crossroads of our expertise in cell division, the mediation of protein degradation by the ubiquitin system, and tumorigenesis. We are moving our basic and mechanistic work towards therapeutic goals whenever possible.