# Unraveling the quantitative dynamics of cAMP-PKA signaling in yeast

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $306,119

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Starting from a blueprint of the cell, including a map of its signaling cables, we now face the
monumental challenge of understanding how signals flow in these cables and deciphering
cellular information transmission protocols.
One particularly daunting problem is that cells often use shared pathways (the same cables) to
transmit different signals, yet have an exquisite capacity to specifically interpret these signals.
How cells encode information and then decode it with high fidelity to optimize the use of shared
signaling channels remains largely unknown. Uncovering these strategies requires synergy
between a unique multidisciplinary toolkit of technology, computational modeling, and high
resolution/high throughput experimental investigations. Using Protein Kinase A (PKA), an
important biological signaling hub, and our unique multidisciplinary approach, we will dissect
the mechanisms by which different inputs are encoded by the PKA channel in S. cerevisiae and
then decoded by downstream transcription factors and genes. We will investigate the
repercussions of errors in such signal encoding and decoding schemes, and by doing so, we
will be able to extract fundamental principles that cells use to circumvent their information
transmission bottlenecks. Fundamentally, these investigations will provide a comprehensive
and quantitative portrait of the dynamic operation of the PKA pathway as an integrated system,
and a detailed synopsis of its failure modes and their connections to cellular physiology. Our
experimental design will also generate a catalogue of the connectivity of PKA to the rest of the
cellular chassis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9851408
- **Project number:** 5R01GM119033-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Hana El-Samad
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $306,119
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-02-01 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9851408

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9851408, Unraveling the quantitative dynamics of cAMP-PKA signaling in yeast (5R01GM119033-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9851408. Licensed CC0.

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