Nobel Laureate to Present Priestley Lectures in the Chemical Sciences on 12 and 13 April 2007

2 April 2007—Nobel Laureate Roderick MacKinnon, professor of molecular neurobiology and biophysics at Rockefeller University and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will present the 2007 Joseph Priestley Lectures in the Chemical Sciences on 12 and 13 April 2007 at the Penn State University Park campus. The series begins with a lecture intended for a general audience, titled "Ion Conduction and Selectivity in K+ Channels" on Thursday, 12 April, at 8:00 p.m. in the Berg Auditorium, 100 Life Science Building. MacKinnon also will give a more specialized lecture, titled "Principles of Gating in K+ Channels," at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, 13 April, in 101 Thomas Building. These free public lectures are sponsored by the Penn State Eberly College of Science.

MacKinnon's research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of a class of membrane proteins known as ion channels. By catalyzing the rapid and selective flow of inorganic ions across cell membranes, these proteins generate electrical signals in cells. Among their many biological functions, ion channels control the pace of the heart, regulate hormone secretion, and generate the electrical impulses underlying information transfer in the nervous system.

MacKinnon takes a multidisciplinary approach to answering key questions in the field of ion-channel studies, including how ion-channel pores discriminate between very similar ions, such as those of sodium and potassium; and how neurotransmitter binding or a change in a cellÅfs membrane voltage can control the opening-and-closing process known as gating. He studies the activity or function of ion channels using a technique known as patch-recording that allows him to monitor the behavior of a single protein molecule in real time. He also investigates the structure of ion channels using diffraction methods. Currently, his research on ion-channel structure consists of work on high-level expression and purification of ion channels, the development of methods for growing two-dimensional crystals for electron microscopy studies using small quantities of ion-channel protein, and X-ray-crystallographic studies of ion-channel domains and soluble regulatory proteins that bind to ion channels.

In 2003, MacKinnon received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Peter Agre of Johns Hopkins University, for work that led to "discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes," spec ifically for his work on "structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels" in cell membranes.

MacKinnon's work also has been recognized with a McKnight Scholars Award in 1992, a Young Investigator Award from the Biophysical Society in 1995, a McKnight Investigator Award in 1997, a Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998, an Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1999, the inaugural Hodgkin-Huxley-Katz Prize from the British Physiological Society in 2000, the Alexander M. Cruickshank Award from the Gordon Research Conference in 2000, the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2001, the Scientific American Research Leader of the Year award in 2003, a Bijvoet Medal for Outstanding Research from Utrecht University in The Netherlands in 2004, and the Hans Neurath Award from the Protein Society in 2005. He was named a National Lecturer at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in 2004, and was the Rolf Sammet Honorary Lecturer at J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2006. He also has received honorary doctoral degrees from Tufts University, Brandeis University, and the Pohang University of Science and Technology in Korea. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

MacKinnon received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1978 and a doctoral degree in medicine from Tufts University in 1982. He was a NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Beth Israel Hospital of Harvard Medical School from 1985 to 1986 and at Brandeis University from 1986 to 1989. He joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School as an assistant professor of physiology in 1989, and was named assistant professor of neurobiology in 1991. He was promoted to associate professor of neurobiology in 1992 and to professor of neurobiology in 1995. In 1996, he joined the faculty at the Rockefeller University as a professor in the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics. In 1997, he was named an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The Priestley Lectures are named in honor of Joseph Priestley, the eighteenth-century chemist who discovered oxygen, and were established by the late Professor Wheeler P. Davey in 1926.

For more information, please contact Teresa Spayd, Department of Chemistry 865-6553 or email tab18@psu.edu.

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