Profile
Inward rectifying potassium (Kir) channels play key physiological
roles in cardiac, neuronal, endocrine and epithelial cells and may
represent novel therapeutic targets for several common disorders.
However, the lack of selective pharmacological probes has thus far
hampered efforts to assess their therapeutic potential. To overcome
this barrier, we are using a combination of high-throughput
screening, medicinal chemistry, conventional and fully automated
patch clamp electrophysiology, mutagenesis and molecular modeling
to develop potent and highly selective small-molecule probes for
each family member (see Lewis et al., Mol Pharm, 2009). We are
interested in working with highly motivated students and fellows
who wish to combine these methods to develop a detailed
understanding of Kir channel structure and pharmacology.