Terence Hébert

Biography

Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University   

Research Interest

Cells must discriminate among a plethora of signals and in many instances must be able to integrate signals coming from several different pathways. Thus, the cell must simultaneously facilitate this crosstalk between receptor pathways and paradoxically limit it in order to preserve specificity.The mechanisms which regulate specificity of G protein-coupled signalling systems in vivo are not well characterized. In vivo, GPCRs demonstrate much less promiscuity in their coupling to G proteins and effectors than in vitro. We feel it is therefore important to use cellular systems to begin to look at mechanisms of specificity. Thus, the question of specificity may be addressed by positing that signalling complexes are stable in these cells and that receptors, G proteins and effectors remain associated even while activated. Work in my lab is based on the idea that stable receptor/G protein/effector interactions can serve to explain the specificity inherent in these signal transduction.