Calcium ions are essential in our bodies, mediating a number of important events including the contraction of cardiac and skeletal muscle. To do this, calcium ions must enter the cytoplasm of the cell through specialized proteins that form channels. In this talk, University of British Columbia Professor Filip Van Petegem will show a crystallographic analysis of a huge calcium-selective channel, the ryanodine receptor. Mutations in this channel cause cardiac arrhythmias and malignant hyperthermia. Researchers can now pinpoint the locations of up to 57 different disease mutations that weaken the interactions between modules in the ryanodine receptor. This causes premature opening of the channel, leading to a leak of calcium in the cytoplasm of the cell.
Date/Time: April 13, 2011 3:00 p.m.
Licensee in Biochemistry, Ghent University, 1998, PhD in Biochemistry, Ghent University, 2002 Postdoctoral research, University of California, 2007
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia, 2007 CIHR new investigator, MSFHR career investigator.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA
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