Robert Piper
University of Iowa, IA·Physiology
Every heartbeat and every nerve signal depends on voltage-gated sodium channels (NaV), pores in the cell membrane that open briefly to let sodium in and start an electrical impulse. Each channel has a large pore-forming α subunit, and there are nine kinds.
- Fields
Physiology
Pharmacology
Biophysics
- Topics
voltage-gated sodium channels
NaV
beta subunits
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jan 2027
What they work on
- Produce stably expressing human HEK cell lines that pair individual β subunits (Scn2b, Scn3b, Scn4b) with specific pore-forming NaV α subunits.
- Define systematically, with electrophysiological recordings, how Scn2b, Scn3b and Scn4b alter the gating of NaV1.6, a central nervous system channel, and of NaV1.7, NaV1.8 and NaV1.9 from peripheral nerves.
- Extend findings from β-subunit-free beHAPe cells on how β subunits modulate NaV1.5, the main cardiac channel, and test the suggested role of NaV1.8 in cardiac function.
More about the research
These can mix and match with four kinds of smaller helper proteins called β subunits, which tune how a channel opens and closes (gating), how it reaches the cell surface, and how it responds to drugs. Faulty β subunits are linked to epilepsy and to heart rhythm disorders such as long QT syndrome, atrial fibrillation and Brugada syndrome. Mutations in α subunits cause rare diseases including SCN8A encephalopathy, hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type 7, and dilated cardiomyopathy-1E. Past studies of β subunits have disagreed with each other, largely because the cell lines used already make their own β subunits, which confounds the results.
Why it matters
Defining how these understudied β subunits control specific sodium channels could clarify how epilepsy, cardiac arrhythmias and rare conditions such as Brugada syndrome arise. The stable cell lines could serve as a screening platform for drugs that act on a single α–β channel pair, a step toward treatments for rare sodium channel disorders.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Christopher A Ahern
University of Iowa, IA·Biophysics
Develop light-activated photochemical 'stapling' to lock voltage-gated sodium, calcium and potassium channels into key shapes in live cell membranes before purification for structural determination.
Manu Ben Johny
Columbia University, NY·Biophysics
Determine whether CaV2.1 and CaV2.2 calcium channels are S-palmitoylated, carrying an attached lipid group, in central and peripheral neurons, and how this modification alters channel activity.
David Auerbach
Upstate Medical University, NY·Physiology
Test whether rabbits with a CRISPR-made Kcnh2 pore mutation reproduce the brain and heart problems of LQT2 patients with epilepsy, including QT prolongation, spontaneous seizures and seizure-related sudden death.
The school
University of Iowa: 32 labs on PI Pages, $703M a year on research, 418 research doctorates a year.
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