Sarita  K. Sastry,  Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
email:  sasastry@utmb.edu

Dr. Sastry received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Lineberger Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC, where where she studied the function of a protein tyrosine phosphatase, PTP-PEST, in cytoskeletal regulation during cell motility.  Aberrant cell motility is a hallmark of tumor metastasis as well as a vital component of tumor angiogenesis.  Tyrosine kinase signaling is often upregulated in many cancers and contributes to enhanced motility.  Tyrosine phosphatases are the endogenous inhibitors of tyrosine kinases.  By studying the function, regulation, subcellular localization and intracellular substrates of PTP-PEST and other tyrosine phosphatases during normal cell motility, we hope to gain insight into approaches to block inappropriate motility.