Rebecca Scheck

Research/Areas of Interest

Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Chemistry. The post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins is an essential cellular vocabulary that allows critical information to be communicated within and between cells. The Scheck lab pioneers new chemical biology tools that enable the decoding of PTM networks. We use these methods to unlock previously unattainable information about how PTMs are integrated into signaling networks in living cells. Our focus is on PTMs with unusual mechanisms that make them particularly complicated to study using traditional tools, which typically inhibit or profile specific enzyme activities. We use an integrated mass spectrometry and chemical biology approach to develop new, selective chemistries and chemical methods that can predictably modulate, track, or capture specific PTMs, like glycation, ubiquitination, or phosphate B-elimination. Learning how these signals are interpreted or degraded will provide access to new therapeutic targets for preventing or treating neurodegenerative diseases, bacterial infection, autoimmune disease, cancer, diabetes, and age-related diseases.