CAREER: Probing the Conformational Dynamics of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels from Xenopus Oocytes

这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）项目，在分析和表面化学计划的支持下，旨在使用最先进的扫描探针技术来研究离子通道构象变化的动力学在单个蛋白质水平。 堪萨斯大学的Dunn教授和他的学生将使用近场扫描光学显微镜、原子力显微镜和共聚焦显微镜来研究离子通道的作用机制，以更好地理解广泛的神经生理过程。 本科生和研究生将在实验室和课堂上被介绍并参与CAREER研究项目支持的工作。 对发生在膜中离子通道的神经过程的理解受到了限制，因为缺乏方法来观察这些过程。 邓恩教授将使用新开发的方法在单分子水平上真实的时间内观察这些反应。 这项工作提供的见解对理解广泛的神经化学领域具有潜在的影响。 这项职业建议的研究和教育目标将具有很高的教学影响，由于国家的最先进的方法来研究这些问题的应用。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, aims to use state- of-the-art scanning probe techniques to study the dynamics of ion channel conformation changes at the single protein level. Professor Dunn and his students at the University of Kansas will use near-field scanning optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy and confocal microscopy to study the mechanism of action of ion channels to better understand a broad range of neurophysiological processes. Undergraduate and graduate students will be introduced to and involved in the work supported by the CAREER research project both in the laboratory and in the classroom. The understanding of neurological processes that occur at ion channels in membranes has been limited by the lack of methods to see these processes while they occur. Professor Dunn will use newly developed methods to observe these reactions in real time at the single molecule level. The insights provided by this work have potential impact in understanding a broad range of neurochemical areas. The research and educational objectives of this CAREER proposal will have high pedagogical impact due to the application of state-of-the-art methods to the study of these problems.