Receptor Biochemistry
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Research program

Molecular basis of glutamatergic synaptic transmission

To investigate structure, function, regulation, and modulation of ionotropic glutamate receptors, molecular biological and electrophysiological methods are combined with proteinbiochemical and, if necessary, immunocytochemical procedures.

We analyze structural and functional properties of members of the extended protein family of ionotropic glutamate receptors in heterologous expression systems such as Xenopus oocytes and HEK cells. In our studies we include vertebrates glutamate receptors (23 known genes) as well as invertebrate and plant glutamate receptors such as those of Caenorhabditis elegans (15 genes) and Arabidopsis thaliana (20 genes), respectively.

Current projects include:

• Ion pore transplantation between homologous glutamate receptor subunits
• Construction and functional analysis of concatemeric glutamate receptors
• Functional analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans glutamate receptors
• Molecular and functional characterization of putative glutamate receptors from Arabidopsis thaliana
• Modulation of glutamate receptors by lectins
• Assembly of glutamate receptor subunits into functional complexes
• Stoichiometry of glutamate receptor complexes
• Examination of the putative phylogenetic relationship between glutamate receptors and potassium channels
• Investigations into the molecular basis of the lack of ion channel function and lack of ligand binding in the orphan receptors delta1 and delta2, with a focus on delta2 which causes the lurcher phenotype (lack of motor coordination) in mice.
• Modulation of glutamate receptor expression by intracellularly interacting proteins
• Cloning and functional characterization of Xenopus laevis glutamate receptors
• Investigation of the functional significance of the large, extracellular N-terminal domains of glutamate receptors
• Investigations into the role of ionotropic glutamate receptors in differentiating stem cells