James B. Duke Professor
Graduate
student
Graduate
student
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Vann Bennett James B. Duke Professor |
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Woohyun
Yoon Graduate student |
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Khadar
Abdi Graduate student |
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| Research spotlight: Bennett lab |
The Bennett lab is interested in the ankyrin-based cellular targeting of ion transporters at a molecular, cellular, and physiological level. Ankyrins are a family of ubiquitously expressed membrane adapter proteins that coordinate multiple ion channels through ANK repeats [Bennett, Baines -pdf-; Bennett, Chen -pdf-; Jenkins, Bennett -pdf-]. Ankyrin-B (+/-) mice and humans with mutations in ankyrin-B have cardiac arrhythmia (type 4 long QT syndrome) associated with stress-induced sudden cardiac death [Mohler et al -pdf-]. |
 Fig 2. Abnormal patterns of InsP3R in neonatal ankyrin-B (+/-) cardiomyocytes can be rescued by transfection with GFP- ankyrin-B). The lab uses the rescue assay to evaluate mutations in ankyrin-B that cause cardiac arrhythmia (6 identified so far) and mutations that affect molecular interactions. A current focus is on interacting proteins identified in yeast two-hybrid assays and on intramolecular regulation. |
Fig
1. Binding sites of membrane-binding domain of ankyrin (green) for Na/Ca
exchanger, Na pump, and IP3 R) mapped by alanine-scanning mutagenesis
to tips of beta-hairpins. 
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