My lab studies the cellular and molecular basis of synaptic transmission and plasticity. Neuronal signaling events at synapses determine circuit responses and result in specific behavioral outputs. This signaling is dynamic – modulated by synapse activity history and perceived...
We study how epithelial tubular organs – which are essential to life in all multicellular organisms – form and specialize. Using the simple unbranched tubes of the Drosophila salivary gland and the beautifully branched tubular network of the Drosophila...
The Rao laboratory studies the role of novel ion transporters in human health and disease. One project focuses on the calcium signaling in breast cancer. We showed that an isoform of the secretory pathway Ca2+-ATPase, SPCA2, interacts with ion...
We study fundamental cellular processes relevant to human disease. A major research focus in our laboratory is the premature aging disease Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), which results from a mutation in the gene encoding the nuclear scaffold protein lamin...
Molecular Biology and Physiology of Ion Transport Chloride is the most abundant free negatively charged ion in the body. Chloride channels are cell-membrane embedded proteins, allowing the movement of chloride in and out of the cells. Defects in chloride...
Research topics: Cryo-electron microscopy, membrane proteins, glutamate receptors, protein homeostasis We are interested in the structural and biochemical underpinnings of neurotransmission and neurodegeneration, as well as the homeostasis of the proteins contributing to these processes. Primarily, we will be...