Publication in PNAS: Dr Ulrike Eggert

Congratulations to Ulrike Eggert, who has just had her paper entitled "Dopamine receptor D₃ regulates endocytic sorting by a Prazosin-sensitive interaction with the coatomer COPI" published in PNAS. Eggert et al. demonstrated that the drug Prazosin inhibits endocytic sorting. They implicate the G protein-coupled dopamine receptor D₃ and the membrane transport complex coatomer COPI in this process, proposing a new biological role for G protein coupled receptors. This work shows an interesting off-target effect of Prazosin, used in the clinic as an antagonist of α₁-adrenic receptors (a sub-family of G protein-coupled receptors), providing a useful tool for the further study of endosome dynamics. http://www.pnas.org/content/109/31/12485.full.pdf+html - Congratulations to Ulrike Eggert, who was awarded an ERC Starting Grant for her project entitled "A Chemical Approach to Understanding Cell Division".