Assoc. Prof. Koh, Cheng Gee

The shape of a cell and its movement are critical to many fundamental biological processes. Cancer cells move and invade other tissues to cause metastasis. The morphological changes required for cell movement involve modifying the actin cytoskeleton as well as actin-containing structures that are also responsible for cell spreading and signal sensing.

We study the effectors and regulators of the Rho GTPases that are integral to pathways modulating the actin architecture. In particular, kinases that are activated by the Rho GTPases. The kinases and their substrates are in turn regulated by phosphatases. We are keen to understand how these kinases and phosphatases function to regulate the actin cytoskeleton.

The main areas of our research are (1) signal transduction in cancer biology; (2) regulation of the actin cytoskeleton; (3) drug discovery in tropical medicinal plants.

Research Areas