Sergei Sukharev
| Ph.D.
- Moscow State University, 1987
|
| Assistant Professor |
| Department
of Biology
|
| University
of Maryland
|
| College
Park, MD 20742
|
| Telephone:
(301)-405-6923
|
| E-mail: ss311@umail.umd.edu |
| Research Interests: Ion Channels and Molecular Mechanisms of Mechanosensation. |
My research investigates the principles and the molecules that cells use to detect mechanical force and pressure. Mechanosensation encompasses many phenomena from the relatively simple such as bacterial adaptation to changes in the medium osmolarity to the very complex such as hearing and balance in animals, or gravitropism in plants; yet in most cases the primary receptors responsible for force detection remain unidentified as molecular entities. Mechanosensitive channels that conduct ions across the plasma membrane in response to membrane tension are thought to be primary transducers that convert mechanical stimuli into the form of cellular signals. Dr. Sukharev has made the major effort in isolation and cloning of the Mechanosensitive Channel of Large conductance of Escherichia coli (MscL), the first identified channel of this class. His current study addresses questions concerning the structure of the MscL protein and the number of subunits needed to form the functional complex; what is the physical nature of intracomplex interactions that make the channel assembly sensitive to membrane tension, and how the protein conformation changes when the channel makes the transition from "closed" to its "open" state?
This interdisciplinary project involves genetic modifications of the MscL gene including site-directed mutagenesis and generation of chimeras; biochemical purification of the channel protein and reconstitution into phospholipid membranes; single-channel recording and video imaging of patch-clamped membranes; kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of the channel behavior. The quest for other members of the MS channel family is under way.
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