University of California-San Diego · PharmacologyNewton Signaling Lab
Alexandra C. Newton · La Jolla, California
Research Focus
Dr. Alexandra C. Newton's lab at UC San Diego focuses on understanding how mutations in a specific enzyme, protein kinase C gamma (PKCg), cause neurodegenerative diseases like Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 14. The research combines various techniques to explore the structural and molecular changes in PKCg that lead to disease. Additionally, her team studies the role of PKC in cancer, aiming to develop therapies that can restore normal signaling in cells when it’s disrupted.
protein kinase Cneurodegenerative diseasesSpinocerebellar Ataxiacell signalingtherapeutic interventioncancer mechanismsstructural biologymolecular mechanismslive-cell imagingproteomics
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how mutations in PKCg contribute to Spinocerebellar Ataxia.
AIM 02Determine the structural changes in PKCg caused by mutations.
AIM 03Understand the role of PKC in suppressing oncogenic signaling.
AIM 04Explore the regulatory mechanisms involved with the phosphatase PHLPP.
AIM 05Identify therapeutic strategies to restore PKC signaling in disease contexts.
Skills the Lab Values
structural biology techniquesanimal modelsmolecular cloninglive-cell imagingprotein purificationWestern blotbiochemical assayscryoelectron microscopyphosphoproteomicscell culture
Output against the department
Publications335top 23% of dept.104th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations25ktop 13% of dept.58th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.