Principal Investigator: Geoff Abbott, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOPHYSICS
University of California, Irvine
Bioelectricity Laboratory
Welcome
Research in the Bioelectricity Laboratory is focused on elucidating the molecular basis for ion channel and transporter physiology and pathophysiology. We are fortunate to have received funding for this work from the US National Institutes of Health (NIGMS, NINDS, NIDCD, NEI, NHLBI, and NIDDK), American Heart Association, and also UC Irvine UROP and E-SURP programs. One of the main directions of the lab has been to define the physiology of the KCNQ and KCNE voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel gene families, using a combination of techniques including mouse and human genetics, electrophysiology, pharmacology, chemistry and imaging modalities. In addition, we study the importance of KCNQ-KCNE channels and other ion channels as targets for herbal medicines, neurotransmitters and other small molecules, and the functional effects and therapeutic potential of these interactions. We also discovered several novel macromolecular complexes comprising KCNQ family Kv alpha subunits and sodium-coupled solute transporters, and we are currently studying their roles in physiology and molecular mechanisms of action. Abnormal functioning of ion channels causes many different disorders, including cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes, epilepsy, myotonia and periodic paralysis. In the Bioelectricity Laboratory a multidisciplinary approach is aimed at understanding Kv channel physiology, the molecular bases for channelopathies, and the potential for Kv channels as therapeutic drug targets.
3.10.2017 - Congratulations to recent graduate Dr. Dan Neverisky, whose work in the Abbott lab discovering novel chansporter complexes is published in FASEB J.
3.29.2017 - Congratulations to Liz King, whose work in the Abbott lab demonstrating that Kcne3 deletion causes skeletal muscle dysfunction in mice, is published in FASEB J. This work was a collaboration with Noah Weisleder (now at Ohio State) and supports our earlier paper published in Cell showing that human KCNE3 gene sequence variants associated with periodic paralysis.
4.26.2017 - An article from the lab of alumnus Dr. Zhaoyang Hu in collaboration with the Abbott lab, demonstrating differential arrhythmogenesis and preconditioning cardioprotection in diabetes is published in Cardiovascular Diabetology.
8.8.2017 - Congratulations to Drs. Rian Manville and Dan Neverisky, whose work demonstrating physical interaction between solute transporters and the KCNQ potassium channel pore is published in Biophysical Journal and highlighted in a "new and notable" editorial.
5.10.2018 - Congratulations to Drs. Rian Manville and Maria Papanikolaou, whose work in the Abbott lab discovering a novel mode of neurotransmitter signaling has been published in Nature Communications.
7.20.2018 - Congratulations to birthday boy Dr. Rian Manville, whose work in the Abbott lab discovering a novel target for the gabapentin has been published in Molecular Pharmacology.
Join us at the international Kv7 channels symposium in Naples, 2019.
5.29.2018 - A collaboration between the Hu and Abbott labs showing how Kcne4 deletion sex-specifically predisposes to cardiac arrhythmias in aged mice is published in Scientific Reports.
5.16.2018 - A collaboration between the Hu and Abbott labs showing how remote ischemic preconditioning protects against lung damage is published in PLoS One.
5.10.2018 - Congratulations to Dr. Rian Manville , whose work in the Abbott lab discovering a molecular mechanism for the anticonvulsant action of a traditional herbal medicine has been published in Nature Communications.
News Bulletin
Our Latest Research
Following up on GWAS that associated polymorphisms in or near the human KCNE2 gene with predisposition to early-onset myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis, we recently discovered that Kcne2 deletion in mice promotes atherosclerosis. This is the only the third single-gene knockout to cause atherosclerosis in Mus musculus, a species resistant to plaque formation. View our 2015 JMCC paper to learn more.
We recently found that despite a number of cardioavscular and other disorders arising from Kcne2 disruption, mice with germline Kcne2 deletion are better equipped to handle an imposed myocardial infarction. This is because cardioprotective pathways are chronically upregulated in Kcne2-/- mice. This work, a collaboration between the Abbott lab and Zhaoyang Hu's lab, was published in 2016 in Cardiovascular Research, and featured on the front cover and as an Editor's Choice article.
