Cynthia Czajkowski
Position title: Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Email: cmczajko@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 265-5863
Department:
Neuroscience
Education:
Ph.D. in Anatomy & Cell Biology, State University of New York – Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Postdoctoral in Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Research Description:
I have been studying pentameric ligand–gated ion channels (pLGICs) for close to 30 years. The main function of these allosteric proteins is to couple neurotransmitter binding to opening and closing of an intrinsic ion– conducting pore. A long–term goal of my laboratory is to understand, at a molecular level, how neurotransmitters activate these channels and how drugs and disease–causing mutations modulate their activity. As an independent investigator, my lab has made fundamental discoveries in understanding GABAR activation by unveiling the structures of the GABA and benzodiazepine (BZD) binding sites and by identifying structural elements important for coupling GABA binding to channel gating and BZD binding to current modulation. Recently, we have expanded our research to bacterial homologs of pLGICs and are examining pLGIC dynamics. Describing pLGIC conformational dynamics in physiological lipids is essential for understanding their function. My laboratory has expertise in various techniques including two–electrode voltage clamping and patch–clamping, rapid–ligand application, affinity labeling, radioligand binding, voltage clamp fluorimetry, insilico drug docking, protein over–expression and purification, and EPR spectroscopy.
Research Key Words:
GABA-A Receptor Activation and Function, Neurotransmitters, Drug Modulation, Inhibitory Signaling