Jack
Dixon has spent the past 10 years of his career immersed in
protein tyrosine phosphatases. Found in all living cells, phosphatases
are one of the “master control switches” that regulate
virtually all types of cellular activity. Until the late 1980s,
little was known about how these phosphatases work together
with their betterunderstood counterparts— the kinases.
Collectively, the phosphatases and kinases act as a set of molecular
switches to turn cells on and off. Much of our current understanding
of phosphatase function comes from work by Dixon and his research
associates in the Department of Biological Chemistry.
In recognition of the quality and significance of this work,
Dixon was chosen to present the University’s 1999 Henry
Russel Lecture in March, which he titled “Playing Tag with
Death: A Biochemist’s View of the Plague, Cancer and Signal
Transduction.” The Henry Russel Lectureship is the highest
honor a senior faculty member can receive for distinction in
research. A U-M faculty member since 1991, Dixon is the Minor
J. Coon Professor of Biological Chemistry and department chair.
Jack
Dixon has spent the past 10 years of his career immersed in
protein tyrosine phosphatases. Found in all living cells, phosphatases
are one of the “master control switches” that regulate
virtually all types of cellular activity. Until the late 1980s,
little was known about how these phosphatases work together
with their betterunderstood counterparts— the kinases.
Collectively, the phosphatases and kinases act as a set of molecular
switches to turn cells on and off. Much of our current understanding
of phosphatase function comes from work by Dixon and his research
associates in the Department of Biological Chemistry.
