Redox regulation plays a central role in signal transduction processes operating in the brain. Aberrant redox signaling is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and various Ataxias. It...
Research in my laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of multi-subunit assemblies involved in synaptic communication. We are particularly interested in elucidating the structural thermodynamics that govern subunit assembly, ligand binding, and allosteric control of neurotransmitter receptors....
Copper plays an essential role in human physiology. It serves as a cofactor to key metabolic enzymes that are required for respiration, neurotransmitter biosynthesis, detoxification of radicals, blood clotting, connective tissue formation, and many others processes. Through currently unknown...
Antigen-specific and islet-targeted immunotherapies for type-1 diabetes Cell-surface autoantigens of pancreatic beta-cells are molecular attractants for autoreactive immune cells and thus therapeutic entry points to protect beta-cells from autoimmune attack that results in type-1 diabetes (T1D). Zinc transporter-8 (ZnT8)...
The goal of my research program is to answer a fundamental biological question: how is the genome properly interpreted to coordinate the diversity of cell types observed during neuronal development? We are focused on the acquisition of specific cellular...
Neurotransmitter receptors mediate signal transduction at the postsynaptic membrane of synaptic connections between neurons in the nervous system. We have been studying the molecular mechanisms in the regulation of neurotransmitter receptor function. Recently we have focused on glutamate receptors,...
Our laboratory is interested in the area of sensory transduction: specifically visual and olfactory transductions, which are the processes by which the senses of vision and olfaction are initiated. These two processes have interesting similarities and differences. Vision can...
The research group is a laboratory focused on medicinal chemistry, primarily addressing diseases of neurodevelopment such as schizophrenia. Biological activity and structure-based drug design are used to drive chemistry target selection, and we are developing synthetic methods to efficiently prepare...
Our laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the perception of pain under healthy conditions and in the setting of pathology. Towards this goal, we utilize a wide spectrum of approaches including behavioral analysis, in vivo and in...
Phospholipids are the building blocks of biological membranes. Membranes leverage the amphipathic chemistry of lipids to form bilayers that encapsulate a cell and its multitude of organelles. Such compartmentalization has enabled cells to separate biochemical pathways, establish specialized functions...