Dr. Kevan Shokat

Biography

The Shokat laboratory at UC Berkeley focuses on the discovery of new small molecule tools and drug candidates targeting protein/lipid kinases, GTPases, and RNA helicases. Utilizing synthetic organic chemistry, protein engineering, structural biology, biochemistry, and cell biology, the lab has a particular focus on oncology and neurodegenerative diseases. Research primarily targets pathways validated by human genetics, including lipid kinase PIK3CA mutants in 20% of human tumors and the human oncogene GTPase KRAS, along with metabolic growth factor-sensitive kinase mTOR and mitochondrial kinase PINK1 relevant to Parkinson’s Disease. The lab's work aims to uncover fundamental principles of cell signaling through the development of new chemical tools. Pharmacological approaches allow for rapid, reversible, dose-dependent inactivation of single components in intact cells and organisms, addressing the challenge of creating highly selective pharmacological probes for large enzyme families such as protein kinases and RNA helicases. The laboratory has innovatively tackled the problem of the largest family of enzymes in the human genome through chemical genetics, creating unique ATP binding pockets and matched chemical inhibitors that selectively target family members. The research has broad applications across various biological systems, including yeast, plants, and mammals.

Research Interests