Philip Kranzusch, Ph.D., CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

In response to signs of infection or other danger, our cells stimulate immune responses via complex DNA-sensing systems that first evolved in ancient bacteria. The most well-known component is an enzyme called cGAS, but Philip J. Kranzusch, Ph.D., a CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, discovered that cGAS is just part of a broad family of signaling enzymes and pathways, many of which remain uncharacterized.

Now, using an innovative approach he developed, Dr. Kranzusch is characterizing the functions of these pathways and how they’re activated, and defining how cells use specific enzymes to control signaling. By leveraging this emerging connection between human immunity and bacterial signaling, he hopes to provide a framework upon which potential therpeutic interventions could be designed for patients in the clinic.

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