Ramon Latorre
Universidad de Valparaiso
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Primary Section: 23, Physiology and Pharmacology Secondary Section: 29, Biophysics and Computational Biology Membership Type:
International Member
(elected 1999)
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Research Interests
As a biophysicist and a cellular physiologist, my research interest is focused on a class of integral membrane proteins denominated ion channels, which mediate all electrical signals in our nervous system. Ion channels can have two configurations: conductive (open) or nonconductive (closed). In its conductive configuration, a channel protein mediates the transfer of million of ions per second across the membrane. Through detailed studies of a calcium-activated voltage-dependent potassium channel, my coworkers and I developed a kinetic model able to account for the voltage- and calcium-dependence of these channels. We also demonstrated the multi-ion nature of these channels and its implication for selectivity and conduction. More recently, my laboratory made the discovery that a modulatory beta subunit of the smooth muscle calcium- and voltage-dependent potassium channel behaves as an estrogen receptor modulating the activity of the channel-forming alpha subunit, which may provide the first clue regarding the unknown nature of estrogen membrane receptors.
