Alexander Mongin
Albany Medical College, NY·Neuroscience
Brain cells must keep their size steady. Even small amounts of swelling change the space between cells, upset salt balance and disturb chemical signaling.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Physiology
Pharmacology
- Topics
volume-regulated anion channels
cell volume regulation
taurine
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2026
What they work on
- Test whether LRRC8A-containing volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) control extracellular taurine and GABA, inhibitory brain chemicals, using microdialysis in mice with brain-specific LRRC8A deletion that develop lethal seizures.
- Determine whether astrocyte VRACs release taurine to help the hypothalamus regulate body fluid and salt balance, measuring blood osmolarity in mice lacking LRRC8A only in astrocytes.
- Assess activity of hypothalamic magnocellular neurons, which control body water balance, by measuring c-fos immunoreactivity, a marker of recent activity, in mice lacking astrocytic LRRC8A.
More about the research
Volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) help cells shrink back by releasing chloride and small organic molecules. These channels are built from LRRC8 proteins (LRRC8A through E) and are found in almost all vertebrate cells. When VRACs open, they also release glutamate and aspartate, excitatory chemical messengers that can overstimulate and kill neurons in stroke, brain injury and epilepsy. For this reason, blocking VRACs has been pursued as a way to protect the brain. The team found a puzzle, however: mice lacking the essential subunit LRRC8A in the brain die from spontaneous seizures during adolescence and early adulthood. This suggests VRACs may also calm the brain.
Why it matters
Drugs that block VRAC channels are being considered to protect the brain after stroke, traumatic brain injury and epilepsy. If these channels also release calming molecules such as taurine and GABA, broad blockade could have unwanted effects. The results could guide safer design of neuroprotective drugs and improve understanding of seizures and body fluid balance.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Todd A Fiacco
University of California-Riverside, CA·Neuroscience
Determine how much the volume-regulated anion channel in astrocytes contributes to brain tissue swelling and seizure generation in living mice, using astrocyte-specific conditional knockout animals.
Ghanim Ullah
University of South Florida, FL·Neuroscience
Test whether recurrent metabolic stress and spreading depolarization, a wave of electrical silencing in the brain, promote amyloid β40 and β42 clumping in the space between cells and in endosomes/lysosomes.
Detlev Boison
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Neuroscience
Test whether blocking adenosine A2A receptors with istradefylline, or activating the astrocyte glutamate transporter GLT-1 with ceftriaxone, prevents epilepsy in the mouse intrahippocampal kainic acid model.
The school
Albany Medical College: 3 labs on PI Pages, $23M a year on research, 8 research doctorates a year.
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