Meet Our Editorial Board Member

Meet Our Editorial Board Member Dr. Gerhard Meissner University of Northern Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA The laboratory’s research focuses on defining the molecular basis of Ca release channel (RyR) function in cardiac and skeletal muscle. RyRs are 2,200 kDa ion channels that release Ca ions in response to an action potential from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), an intracellular Ca-storing compartment in cardiac and skeletal muscle. One goal is to delineate the functional role of calmodulin in SR Ca release. We showed that the cardiac and skeletal RyRs are regulated by calmodulin, a ubiquitous Ca binding protein that controls a wide range of cellular functions. Our mutagenesis studies leading to the identification of the calmodulin regulatory sites of the RyR ion channels has enabled us to prepare and study genetically modified mice deficient in regulation of the cardiac and skeletal RyRs by calmodulin. A second goal is to understand the gating and ion permeability properties of the skeletal muscle Ca release channel (RyR1). The principal hypothesis is that a combined experimental and computational approach will substantially increase our knowledge of the molecular determinants responsible for channel gating and the high ion transport rates through the open RyR1. As our studies progress we expect to gain new insights in the complex mechanisms of RyR1 channel gating, ion conductance and selectivity and how these processes are altered by mutations in RyR1 linked to muscle diseases such as central core disease and malignant hyperthermia.