Keywords

Cardiac Electrophysiology; Effects of drugs on ion channels; Ion Channel Gating; Ion Channels; Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels

Research interests

My main research focus is to understand structure-function relationships in voltage-gated ion channels as well as the mechanism of pharmacological modulation of these membrane proteins. Another research focus is cardiac electrophysiologic phenotyping of murine mouse models.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Patch clamp technique, ECG analysis and programmed electrical stimulation in mice.

Selected publications

1. Cervenka, R. et al., 2018. Distinct modulation of inactivation by a residue in the pore domain of voltage-gated Na+ channels: mechanistic insights from recent crystal structures. Scientific Reports, 8(1). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18919-1.
2. Gawali, V.S. et al., 2017. C2-Modified Sparteine Derivatives Are a New Class of Potentially Long-Acting Sodium Channel Blockers. ChemMedChem, 12(22), pp.1819-1822. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cmdc.201700568.
3. Lukacs, P. et al., 2014. Exploring the Structure of the Voltage-gated Na+Channel by an Engineered Drug Access Pathway to the Receptor Site for Local Anesthetics. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 289(31), pp.21770-21781. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.541763.
4. Koenig, X. et al., 2014. Enhanced currents through L-type calcium channels in cardiomyocytes disturb the electrophysiology of the dystrophic heart. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 306(4), pp.H564-H573. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00441.2013.
5. Zarrabi, T. et al., 2010. A Molecular Switch between the Outer and the Inner Vestibules of the Voltage-gated Na+Channel. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285(50), pp.39458-39470. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M110.132886.