Our research focuses on the localization, regulation, and function of voltage-gated K+ channels. Shal (Kv4) K+ channels are the most highly conserved of the voltage-gated K+ channels, in sequence, function, as well as subcellular localization. Across species, Shal K+ channel genes share more than 80% sequence identity, encode transient A-type K+ currents, and display a somato-dendritic distribution in neurons. We use Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study: how Shal K+ channels are targeted to somato-dendritic domains and excluded from axons, how their biophysical properties are regulated by other proteins, how their expression is regulated by activity, and what role Shal K+ channels play in excitability, synaptic function and integration. We combine a variety of approaches, including electrophysiology, imaging, Drosophila genetics, and molecular and cell biological techniques, to answer questions more difficult to address in mammals.
