Biochemical Characterization of the mTORC1 Pathway
Our research focuses on nutrient sensing - in particular amino acid sensing - in eukaryotic cells. Amino acids are among the basic building blocks of all living organisms. In eukaryotic cells, a dedicated pathway, the mTORC1 pathway, senses the presence or absence of amino acids in the environment, to license cell growth.
In the Shen lab, we are interested in using biochemical and biophysical tools including enzymatic kinetics, structural biology (cryo-EM), and single molecule biophysics, to investigate the mTORC1 pathway at the molecular level. We aim to gain a fundamental understanding of this biological process and how its dysfunction could lead to human disease.
News
October 2025 Dylan's paper "Global conformation of the Rag GTPase heterodimer governs eukaryotic amino acid sensing" is published in PNAS. Congratulations Dylan!
June 1st, 2025 Mr. Nhi Tran and Mr. Duy Hoang join the lab to pursue a Ph.D. Welcome Nhi and Duy!
January 21st, 2025 Ms. Abigail Allworth joins the lab as a research assistant and Mr. Santiago Jacob joins the lab to complete his master's thesis at WSU. Welcome Abigail and Santiago!
Apr 1st, 2024 Ms. Soyeon Jeong joins the lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Welcome Soyeon!
June 2nd, 2023 Ms. Ilina Ivanova joins the lab to pursue a PhD. Welcome Ilina!
May 26th, 2023 Mr. Dylan Doxsey (re)joins the lab to pursue a PhD. Welcome Dylan!
May 1st, 2023 Mr. Samuel Costa joins the lab as a research assistant. Welcome Sam!
Mar 10th, 2023 Mr. Shawn Egri successfully defended his PhD and became the first Doctor from the Shen lab. Congratulations Shawn!
Jan 30th, 2023 Mr. Steven Tettoni successfully defended his master's degree in WSU. Congratulations Steven!
July 19th, 2022 An R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) (R35GM146824) has been awarded to the Shen lab. We thank NIGMS/NIH for their support.
June 3rd, 2022 Shawn received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Mid-Thesis Research. Congratulations!
May 23rd, 2022 Mr. Steven Tettoni joins the lab as a research assistant. Welcome Steven!
Mar 24th, 2022 The Shen lab received a career developement award from the American Heart Association (AHA) to study the molecular mechanism of nutrient sensing. We appreciate the support from AHA!
Jan 25th, 2022 Shawn received the ASBMB Travel Award to attend the 2022 ASBMB annual meeting in Philadelphia. Congratulations Shawn!
Jan 20th, 2022 The Shen lab received a grant from the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR) to study the conformation of SARS-CoV-2 Spike. We appreciate the support from Harvard Medical School.
Oct 1st, 2020 Shawn is selected as a 2020 Mello Scholar. Congratulations Shawn!
Aug 5th, 2020 Mr. Shawn Egri joins the lab to pursue a PhD. Welcome Shawn!
Aug 3rd, 2020 Mr. Dylan Doxsey joins the lab as a research assistant. Welcome Dylan!
May 4th, 2020 The Shen lab received a grant from Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (WFBR) to study the behavior of SARS-CoV-2 Spike. We appreciate the support and hope the pandemic will end soon.
Jan 27th, 2020 Ms. Kristen Veinotte joins the lab as a research assistant. Welcome Kristen!
Jan 1st, 2020 A K22 NCI Transition Career Development Award (CA241362) has been awarded to the Shen lab. We thank NCI/NIH for their support.
Oct 1st, 2019 The Shen lab officially opens at UMass Chan Medical School.