IPK2019: David Shugar and the genesis of the IPK conferences.

A short biographical sketch of Professor David Shugar, the "father of the IPK conferences," is presented, focusing on the growing interest of this eminent scientist for protein kinases and his farsighted perception of the extraordinary therapeutic potential of protein kinase inhibitors, after his discovery in 1986 that 5,6-dichloro-1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)benzimidazole effects are mediated by inhibition of protein kinase CK2. This led David Shugar to conceive the idea of organizing a periodic international conference on protein kinase inhibitors ("IPK conference"). The first conference was held in 1998 and the 10th one under the auspices of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in September 2019. David Shugar died at the age of 100 in 2015, shortly after having organized the eight IPK conference.

[Contribution of a halogen bond to binding of halogenated ligands by protein kinases]. / Rola wiazania halogenowego w oddzialywaniu halogenowanych ligandów z kinazami bialkowymi.

This article presents a brief overview of recent studies on the phenomena of halogen bonding, most of which have been done for the last 15 years in the collaboration with Prof. David Shugar. All these investigations concern reliable estimation of the thermodynamic contribution of a halogen bond to protein-ligand interactions.

The origins of protein phosphorylation.

The reversible phosphorylation of proteins is central to the regulation of most aspects of cell function but, even after the first protein kinase was identified, the general significance of this discovery was slow to be appreciated. Here I review the discovery of protein phosphorylation and give a personal view of the key findings that have helped to shape the field as we know it today.