Shane R. Cunha, PhD

Areas of Interest

Research Interests

Mechanisms of membrane formation and cellular excitability

Specialized membrane domains are distinct regions within the plasma membrane that have unique functions. These functions may include regulating the movement of select ions across the plasma membrane or facilitating membrane adherence to neighboring structures. The function of a membrane domain is determined by its protein and lipid content. Many cellular processes influence the protein content of a membrane domain including intracellular transport, protein targeting and retention, endocytosis and recycling, and protein stability/degradation. Cytosolic adaptor proteins facilitate the progression of membrane-associated proteins through these cellular processes.

Ankyrins are a family of adaptor proteins that tether membrane-associated proteins to the underlying cytoskeleton in a variety of cell types. In excitable cells, ankyrins facilitate the targeting and retention of ion channels and transporters to electrogenic domains such as the nodes of Ranvier in neurons and transverse-tubules in ventricular cardiomyocytes. The association of ankyrin dysfunction with human diseases such as hereditary spherocytosis, cardiac arrhythmias, and epilepsy highlights the clinical relevance of ankyrins for normal human physiology.

Our lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms of ankyrin function in cardiomyocyte structure and membrane excitability using the mammalian heart as our model system. We employ a variety of techniques in molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, and cell imaging in addition to using mouse models of cardiac arrhythmia and primary cultures of cardiac cells.

Publications

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