Department of Neuroscience

Research Abstract

Our laboratory studies potassium channels which are key elements which control and shape electrical activity in the brain, heart, and other excitable tissues. These channels are major determinants of behavior and higher brain function. The potassium channels we study are involved in human disease (e.g. epilepsy, cardiac arrhythmia), basic physiology (e.g. control of blood pressure, protection from hypoxia), and higher brain function (e.g. learning and memory). Our approach is a comparative genomic one which involves comparing the structure and function of potassium channels in different species (e.g. humans, rodents, Drosophila and the nematode worm C. elegans). These comparisons have led us to many fundamental insights about the basic function, development, and regulation of potassium channels, and their role in behavior... read more

Selected Publications

• Chvez JC, Ferreira Gregorio J, Butler A, Treviňo CL, Darszon A, Salkoff L, Santi CM. (2014) SLO3 K+ Channels Control Calcium Entry through CATSPER Channels in Sperm. J Biol Chem. 2014;289(46):32266-75. PMID: 25271166
• Gonzalo Budelli, Yanyan Geng, Alice Butler, Karl L. Magleby, and Lawrence Salkoff (2013) Properties of Slo1 K+ channels with and without the gating ring. PNAS. 110: 16657–16662. PMCID: PMC3799338
• Chavez JC, de la Vega-Beltrn JL, Escoffier J, Visconti PE, Trevio CL, Darszon A, Salkoff L, Santi CM. (2013) Ion Permeabilities in Mouse Sperm Reveal an External Trigger for SLO3-Dependent Hyperpolarization. PLoS One. 8(4):e60578. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060578.
• Travis A. Hage, Lawrence Salkoff (2012) Sodium-Activated Potassium Channels are Functionally Coupled to Persistent Sodium Currents, J Neurosci. 32(8):2714-21
• Budelli G, Hage T, Wei A, Rojas P, Jong Y-JI, O’Malley K, Salkoff L. Na+-activated K+ channels express a large delayed outward current in neurons during normal physiology. Nature Neurosci. 2009 12(6):745-50.
• Salkoff L, Butler A, Ferreira G, Santi CM, Wei A. High conductance Potassium Channels of the Slo Family. Nature Reviews Neurosci. 2006 5:921-931.
• Santi CM, Ferreira G, Yang B, Gazula V-R, Butler A, Wei A, Kaczmarek LK, & Salkoff L. Opposite regulation of Slick and Slack K+ channels by neuromodulators. J Neurosci. 2006 26:5059-5068.
• Yuan A, Santi CM, Wei A, et al. The sodium-activated potassium channel is encoded by a member of the Slo gene family. Neuron. 2003 37:765–773.

For a complete list of Dr. Salkoff's publications, click here.