Role of Potassium Channels in Neurotransmitter and Insulin Release in Diabetes
Prof. Ilana Lotan, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Prof. Ilana Lotan, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Main research projects currently in the lab:
- Study of the novel role of Kv2.1 potassium channel in insulin secretion from pancreatic islet β cells, as a target for novel drug design for the treatment of type-2 diabetes;
- Study of structure-function and modulations by presynaptic modulators of Kv2.1 and other Kv channels, specifically KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, important in axonal and synaptic excitability.
Research methods:
- Biophysical: 1) Two-electrode voltage clamp and patch clamp techniques for the study of whole cell and single channel currents. 2) Membrane capacitance and amperometry measurements for the study of exocytosis.
- Biochemical: co-immunoprecipitation, immunohystochemistry, recombinant protein purification, etc, for the study of in vivo and in vitro protein-protein interactions.
- Imaging: 1) Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) for the study of protein-protein interactions. 2) Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM) for the study of neurotransmitter vesicles behavior.
