Lawrence B. Salkoff, Ph.D.
Professor
Anatomy and Neurobiology
Genetics
Neurosciences Program
Molecular Genetics and Genomics Program
Molecular Cell Biology Program
Developmental Biology Program
|  |
Office Phone: 314-362-3644
Lab Phone: 314-362-3677
Other Phone: 314-750-1717
FAX: 314-362-3446
Box: 8108
Lab Address: 979 McDonnell Medical Sciences Building
Email: Salkoffl@wustl.edu
Website: http://nt-salkoff.wustl.edu/
Keywords: neurobiology; genome analysis; development; behavior; physiology
Short Research Description: How ion channels function in physiology and behavior. |
Research Abstract:
Our laboratory studies potassium channels which are key elements which control and shape electrical activity in the brain, heart, and other excitable tissues. These channels are major determinants of behavior and higher brain function. The potassium channels we study are involved in human disease (e.g. epilepsy, cardiac arrhythmia), basic physiology (e.g. control of blood pressure, protection from hypoxia), and higher brain function (e.g. learning and memory). Our approach is a comparative genomic one which involves comparing the structure and function of potassium channels in different species (e.g. the nematode worm C. elegans, and humans). These comparisons have led us to many fundamental insights about the basic function, development, and regulation of potassium channels, and their role in behavior. The techniques we use in our laboratory include genetics and genomics, the creation and use of transgenic animals, molecular biology, and biophysical studies which include physiological recordings of both native cells and heterologous cell systems which we use to express our cloned channels.
In general, ion channels are the major effector molecules through which neurotransmitters and many hormones act. Ion channels are the “transistors” (electronic switches) of the brain that generate and propagate electrical signals in the aqueous environment of the brain that resembles dilute seawater, a reflection of the evolutionary origin of the nervous system in the sea. Ion channels not only generate active electrical responses, but they set the resting potentials of cells, as well. Without them, life as we know it would not exist, much less higher brain function. |
Selected Publications:
Salkoff L, Butler A, Ferreira G, Santi CM, Wei A. High conductance Potassium Channels of the Slo Family. Nature Reviews Neurosci 2006 5:921-931.
Santi CM, Ferreira G, Yang B, Gazula V-R, Butler A, Wei A, Kaczmarek LK, & Salkoff L. Opposite regulation of Slick and Slack K+ channels by neuromodulators. J Neurosci 2006 26:5059-5068.
Santi CM,Yuan A, Fawcett G, et al. Dissection of K+ currents in Caenorhabditis elegans muscle cells by genetics and RNA interference. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003 100:14391-14396.
Yuan A, Santi CM, Wei A, et al. The sodium-activated potassium channel is encoded by a member of the Slo gene family. Neuron 2003 37:765–773.
Salkoff L, Butler A, Fawcett G, et al. Evolution tunes the excitability of individual neurons. Neurosciences 2001 103:853-859. |