Personal profile

Research interests

My lab is interested in how ligand-gated ion channel work. We focus on the GABAA and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. These receptors are mostly located in the postsynaptic cell membrane where they respond to presynaptically released transmitter molecules with a conformational change which results in the flow of ions through the cell membrane. We have been studying the mechanisms by which agonists and antagonists interact with the ligand-gated ion channels, and how these events lead to conformational changes. We are also interested in drug interactions, i.e., how the receptors behave in the presence of clinically used anesthetics and anxiolytics.

Most of the work is carried out on recombinant receptors transiently or stably expressed in a heterologous expression system, such as human embryonic kidney cells or Xenopus oocytes. We utilize an array of electrophysiological approaches: cell-attached and excised single-channel patch clamp, whole-cell and outside-out macroscopic recordings, and two-electrode voltage clamp.

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  • AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

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M., Schneider, N. O., Matovic, N., Horstmann, N., Longo, N., Bharambe, N., Rouzbeh, N., Mahmoodi, N., Gumede, N. J., Anastasio, N. C., Khalaf, N. B., Rabal, O., Kandror, O., Escaffre, O., Silvennoinen, O., Bishop, O. T., Iglesias, P., Sobrado, P., Chuong, P., O’Connell, P., Martin-Malpartida, P., Mellor, P., Fish, P. V., Moreira, P. O. L., Zhou, P., Liu, P., Liu, P., Wu, P., Agogo-Mawuli, P., Jones, P. L., Ngoi, P., Toogood, P., Ip, P., von Hundelshausen, P., Lee, P. H., Rowswell-Turner, R. B., Balaña-Fouce, R., Rocha, R. E. O., Guido, R. V. C., Ferreira, R. S., Agrawal, R. K., Harijan, R. K., Ramachandran, R., Verma, R., Singh, R. K., Tiwari, R. K., Mazitschek, R., Koppisetti, R. K., Dame, R. T., Douville, R. N., Austin, R. C., Taylor, R. E., Moore, R. G., Ebright, R. H., Angell, R. M., Yan, R., Kejriwal, R., Batey, R. A., Blelloch, R., Vandenberg, R. J., Hickey, R. J., Kelm, R. J., Lake, R. J., Bradley, R. K., Blumenthal, R. M., Solano, R., Gierse, R. M., Viola, R. E., McCarthy, R. R., Reguera, R. M., Uribe, R. V., do Monte-Neto, R. L., Gorgoglione, R., Cullinane, R. T., Katyal, S., Hossain, S., Phadke, S., Shelburne, S. A., Geden, S. E., Johannsen, S., Wazir, S., Legare, S., Landfear, S. M., Radhakrishnan, S. K., Ammendola, S., Dzhumaev, S., Seo, S. Y., Li, S., Zhou, S., Chu, S., Chauhan, S., Maruta, S., Ashkar, S. R., Shyng, S. L., Conticello, S. G., Buroni, S., Garavaglia, S., White, S. J., Zhu, S., Tsimbalyuk, S., Chadni, S. H., Byun, S. Y., Park, S., Xu, S. Q., Banerjee, S., Zahler, S., Espinoza, S., Gustincich, S., Sainas, S., Celano, S. L., Capuzzi, S. J., Waggoner, S. N., Poirier, S., Olson, S. H., Marx, S. O., Van Doren, S. R., Sarilla, S., Brady-Kalnay, S. M., Dallman, S., Azeem, S. M., Teramoto, T., Mehlman, T., Swart, T., Abaffy, T., Akopian, T., Haikarainen, T., Moreda, T. L., Ikegami, T., Teixeira, T. R., Jayasinghe, T. D., Gillingwater, T. H., Kampourakis, T., Richardson, T. I., Herdendorf, T. J., Kotzé, T. J., O’Meara, T. R., Corson, T. W., Hermle, T., Ogunwa, T. H., Lan, T., Su, T., Banjo, T., O’Mara, T. A., Chou, T., Chou, T. F., Baumann, U., Desai, U. R., Pai, V. P., Thai, V. C., Tandon, V., Banerji, V., Robinson, V. L., Gunasekharan, V., Namasivayam, V., Segers, V. F. M., Maranda, V., Dolce, V., Maltarollo, V. G., Scoffone, V. C., Woods, V. A., Ronchi, V. P., Van Hung Le, V., Clayton, W. B., Lowther, W. T., Houry, W. A., Li, W., Tang, W., Zhang, W., Van Voorhis, W. C., Donaldson, W. A., Hahn, W. C., Kerr, W. G., Gerwick, W. H., Bradshaw, W. J., Foong, W. E., Blanchet, X., Wu, X., Lu, X., Qi, X., Xu, X., Yu, X., Qin, X., Wang, X., Yuan, X., Zhang, X., Zhang, Y. J., Hu, Y., Aldhamen, Y. A., Chen, Y., Li, Y., Sun, Y., Zhu, Y., Gupta, Y. K., Pérez-Pertejo, Y., Li, Y., Tang, Y., He, Y., Tse-Dinh, Y. C., Sidorova, Y. A., Yen, Y., Li, Y., Frangos, Z. J., Chung, Z., Su, Z., Wang, Z., Zhang, Z., Liu, Z., Inde, Z., Artía, Z. & Heifets, A., Dec 2024, In: Scientific reports. 14, 1, 7526.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Open Access
    19 Scopus citations
  • Comparison of Behavioral Effects of GABAergic Low- and High-Efficacy Neuroactive Steroids in the Zebrafish Larvae Assay

    Germann, A. L., Xu, Y., Covey, D. F., Evers, A. S. & Akk, G., Mar 6 2024, In: ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 15, 5, p. 909-915 7 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    1 Scopus citations
  • Direct measurements of neurosteroid binding to specific sites on GABAA receptors

    Chintala, S. M., Tateiwa, H., Qian, M., Xu, Y., Amtashar, F., Chen, Z. W., Kirkpatrick, C. C., Bracamontes, J., Germann, A. L., Akk, G., Covey, D. F. & Evers, A. S., Nov 2024, In: British Journal of Pharmacology. 181, 21, p. 4229-4244 16 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Open Access
    2 Scopus citations
  • Potentiation of the GABAAR reveals variable energetic contributions by etiocholanolone and propofol

    Pierce, S. R., Xu, S. Q., Germann, A. L., Steinbach, J. H. & Akk, G., Jul 16 2024, In: Biophysical Journal. 123, 14, p. 1954-1967 14 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    3 Scopus citations
  • Tabernanthalog and ibogainalog inhibit the α7 and α9α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors via different mechanisms and with higher potency than the GABAA receptor and CaV2.2 channel

    Tae, H. S., Ortells, M. O., Yousuf, A., Xu, S. Q., Akk, G., Adams, D. J. & Arias, H. R., May 2024, In: Biochemical Pharmacology. 223, 116183.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Open Access
    1 Scopus citations