Scott Mittman, M.D., Assistant Professor

Voltage-gated calcium channels expressed in the cardiovascular and nervous systems are involved in such processes as electrical excitability, neurostransmitter release and the regulation of gene expression. Ten genes encode the primary, or a1, subunit of the channel. Further diversity of channel structure is generated by alternative splicing of the a1 subunit genes. I have discovered a number of new a1 subunit splice variants. I am characterizing the functional significance of these splice variants with a variety of molecular and physiological tools, including long-distance RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, transfection of embryonic kidney cells and patch-pipette, whole-cell recording. Certain splice variants could be expressed in a restricted fashion (nociceptors?) and would make attractive therapeutic targets.