Our lab is interested in how organisms adapt to their ecological or behavioral niche. We emphasize a curiosity-based approach in which specialized, unconventional systems are exploited to reveal fundamental principles in signal transduction, ion channel biophysics, and evolution. We aim to understand how these molecular mechanisms impact organismal physiology and behavior.
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Latest Publications
"Structural basis of sensory receptor evolution in octopus" - Nature Vol. 616
"Here, we exploit octopus CRs to probe the structural basis of sensory receptor evolution. We present the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of an octopus CR and compare it with nicotinic receptors to determine features that enable environmental sensation versus neurotransmission. Evolutionary, structural, and biophysical analyses show that channel architecture involved in cation permeation and signal transduction is conserved."
