Yuko Tsutsui

Yuko Tsutsui is a Research Scientist in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine. Her research focuses on structural biology, protein kinase signaling, and molecular mechanisms of enzyme inhibition. She employs advanced techniques like hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to study protein dynamics and conformational changes. Key areas of investigation include receptor tyrosine kinases, GPCR interactions, and drug resistance mechanisms in cancer-related kinases. Dr. Tsutsui has contributed to understanding EGFR mutations' inhibitor sensitivity and structural basis for ligand recognition in anaplastic lymphoma kinase. Her work spans from fundamental protein dynamics studies to translational insights into disease pathways.

Research Highlights:

• Structural basis for dROS1-BOSS receptor interactions in developmental signaling
• Allostery mechanisms in BAK1 immune co-receptor activation
• Epigenetic regulation of E. coli lipopolysaccharide synthesis
• Structural insights into EGFR exon 19 mutation drug resistance
• Longstanding studies on serpin protein folding and stability

Publications span structural biology, biochemistry, and molecular pharmacology, with contributions to Nature, Nature Communications, and PNAS. She collaborates with leading groups in pharmacology and structural biology at Yale and internationally.