Welcome
The Ostrom lab seeks to uderstand how cells “pre-arrange” multiple signaling components in G protein couple receptor (GPCR) signal transduction cascades. Using expression of mutant signaling proteins, siRNA knockdown of native protein expression, and a variety of cell biological and biochemical approaches, Dr. Ostrom examines signaling mechanisms of GPCR. He is interested in the organization of cAMP signaling microdomains in the plasma membrane, especially in lipid raft/caveolin-rich regions. Various receptors, G-proteins and effectors, particularly adenylyl cyclase, localize in lipid rafts while others are excluded from these domains. The long-term focus of Dr. Ostrom’s research to understand how cAMP signaling compartments are formed and maintained, what components allow the cell to interpret these spatial signals differently, and how these features might be altered in disease. The Ostrom Lab seeks to understand these compartments and the cellular responses they mediate to novel therapeutic strategies for asthma and COPD, but the basic concepts also apply to cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
Our research is supported by the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Chapman University has honored Dr. Ostrom with the Wang-Fradkin Senior Professorship in 2020 for outstnding scholarly contributions and with the Valerie Scudder Award for Outstanding service in 2018.