Jeremiah Keyes, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology
173 Benson

Mailing Address:
PENN STATE BEHREND
1 PRISCHAK BUILDING
ERIE PA 16563

Dr. Keyes grew up in southern California, but has lived in Utah, Seattle, North Carolina, and now Pennsylvania. His favorite activities outside of science include reading, playing anything ranging from pirates to Minecraft with his children, and enjoying the outdoors.

My current research focuses on unraveling the complex signaling networks that control cell responses to stimuli. Specifically, I am interested in determining how specific signaling pathways are differentially regulated between proliferation and differentiation signals to induce the proper cellular outcome. I use a variety of molecular biology, biochemistry, and cellular biology in my research. In particular, I use genetically-encoded, fluorescent protein-based biosensors to image processes in real-time in living cells.

The primary area of my focus is on the Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway. ERK plays a central role in transducing a multiplicity of different signaling cues to induce a variety of cellular responses. Thus, I seek to elucidate how each cue regulates ERK differently in order to induce their specific response.

This is of particular importance because the upstream activators of ERK are the most commonly-mutated oncogenes found in human cancers; the ERK pathway itself may be hyperactivated in up to 90% of all human cancers. Thus, inhibition of the ERK pathway could be a breakthrough in treating cancer. However, past attempts to do so have resulted in resistant cancers and other devastating side effects due to the ubiquitous role ERK plays in many physiological processes beyond proliferation. Thus, by better understanding how ERK is regulated, we can work to develop more specific therapeutics targeting the ERK pathway.

Evaluating the trophic transfer of PCBs from fish to humans: Insights from a synergism of environmental monitoring and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling, Environmental Pollution - November 1, 2023
Collaborators: Adam Simpson, Corresponding Author; Samuel Nutile, Co-Author; Olivia Hodgson, Co-Author; Ashley Russell, Co-Author; Cody Wood, Co-Author; Ronald Buckanovich, Co-Author

Hydrogen peroxide-dependent oxidation of ERK2 within its D-recruitment site alters its substrate selection, iScience - October 20, 2023
Collaborators: Anthony Postiglione, Primary Author; Laquanundra Adams, Co-Author; Ese Ekhator, Co-Author; Anuoluwapo Odelade, Co-Author; Supriya Patwardhan, Co-Author; Meenal Chaudhari, Co-Author; Avery Pardue, Co-Author; Anjali Kumari, Co-Author; William LaFever, Co-Author; Olivia Tornow; Tamer Kaoud, Co-Author; Jonathan Neiswinger, Co-Author; Jun Seop Jeong, Co-Author; Derek Parsonage, Co-Author; Kimberly Nelson, Co-Author; Dukka Kc, Co-Author; Cristina Furdui, Co-Author; Heng Zhu, Co-Author; Andrew Wommack, Co-Author; Kevin Dalby, Co-Author; Ming Dong, Co-Author; Leslie Poole, Corresponding Author; Robert Newman, Corresponding Author

Evaluation of Peterson et al.: MAPK cascades don’t work in silos: MAP3K cross activation of MAPKs and the effect of MAPK crosstalk on cellular responses to extracellular stimuli, Cell systems - November, 2022

Genetically Encoded Biosensors Reveal Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Cellular Heterogeneity of Neuronal Cells. , Neuromethods - August 11, 2022
Collaborators: Sohum Mehta, Secondary Author; Jin Zhang, Corresponding Author

Strategies for multiplexed biosensor imaging to study intracellular signaling networks, Methods in Molecular Biology - July 31, 2021
Collaborators: S Mehta; J Zhang

Signaling Diversity Enabled by Rap1-Regulated Plasma Membrane ERK with Distinct Temporal Dynamics, eLife - May 26, 2020
Collaborators: A Ganesan, Secondary Author; O Molinar, Co-Author; A Hamidzadeh, Co-Author; Jinfan Zhang, Co-Author; M Ling, Co-Author; A Levchenko, Co-Author; J Trejo, Co-Author; J Zhang, Corresponding Author

Endogenous, Regulatory Cysteine Sulfenylation of ERK Kinases in Response to Proliferative Signals, Free Radical Biology and Medicine - November, 2017
Collaborators: D Parsonage; R Yammani; L Rogers; C Kesty; C Furdui; K. J. Nelson; L Poole

Ferritin as a photocatalyst and scaffold for gold nanoparticle synthesis, Journal of Nanoparticle Research - 2011
Collaborators: R J Hilton; J Farrer; R K Watt

Maximizing the efficiency of ferritin as a photocatalyst for applications in an artificial photosynthesis system, Proceedings of SPIE - 2010
Collaborators: R J Hilton; R K Watt

Photoreduction of Au(III) to form Au(0) nanoparticles using ferritin as a photocatalyst, Proceedings of SPIE - 2010
Collaborators: R J Hilton; R K Watt

Ph D, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine

BS, Biochemistry, Brigham Young University