Membrane Transport Discovery
Research arising from the Hediger group has historically focused on the functional characterization of clinically important membrane transporters and ion channels using a variety of methodologies such as electrophysiology, classical transport studies, microscale thermophoresis, structure function analysis, advanced imaging technologies and bioinformatics. Over the past 25 years, this work has revealed the mechanistic foundations for transporters of iron (SLC11A2), vitamin C (SVCT1 and SVCT2), urea (SLC14A2), citrate (SLC13A2), glutamate (SLC1A1), dibasic amino acids (SLC3A1) and peptides (SLC15A1), as well as the epithelial calcium channels TRPV5 and TRPV6. Additional work has been devoted to the mechanisms of store-operated calcium entry by the Stim-Orai pathway. Most recent efforts are being devoted towards deciphering biological and pharmaceutical aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic.
