The “Interuniversity Attraction Poles” (IAP) Programme aims to provide support for teams of excellence in basic research that belong to Belgium’s various (linguistic) Communities. These teams work as part of a network in order to increase their joint contribution to general scientific advances and, where applicable, to international scientific networks.

In this network eight partners study various aspects of cellular signaling mechanisms and their mutual integration into a comprehensive cellular network. This project is organized in seven work packages dealing with: (1) the mechanisms of nuclear epigenetic reprogramming, (2) the role of Ca2+ as a cellular messenger and its intricate link with cellular lipid metabolism, (3) the novel field of TRP channel-based cell signaling, (4) the role of protein phosphorylation in pathogen–host interactions, and in particular of (5) AMP-activated kinase and protein phosphatase 2A, (6) a study of a novel approach demonstrating signaling-elicited conformational protein alterations, (7) the exploration of the protein phosphatase 2A interactome and its relation to cancer. We believe that only such an integrative approach, monitoring changes in the concentration or properties of various cellular components can lead to a full understanding of signal integration. It is therefore clear that, although in essence fundamentally oriented, several links to the pathology are addressed.

The IAP network is financed by the BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy Office).