Loren W. Runnels Assistant Professor UMDNJ Department of Pharmacology Busch Campus Piscataway. NJ 08854 (732) 235-4593 FAX - 4073 loren.runnels@umdnj.edu Visit Dr. Runnels' Homepage

Signal transduction. role of the channel-kinase TRPM7 in cell adhesion and motility. live cell imaging. confocal microscopy. biochemistry. electrophysiology

My research effort will be dedicated to investigating the physiological function of a unique bifunctional ion channel TRPM7. which our most recent studies indicate is involved in cell motility. TRPM7 is a ubiquitously expressed calcium-permeant ion channel that is fused to a protein kinase. It is a member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family with greatest homology to the putative tumor-suppressor melastatin. Cell motility and adhesion are critical to a broad array of physiological processes. such as the ability of leukocytes to home during the inflammatory response. the processes of blood clotting by platelets. neural crest cell migration and axon migration. TRPM7's ubiquitous expression makes it a potential participant in all these cellular processes. This laboratory will use a multi-disciplinary approach to study the function of this unusual macromolecule. Among the many tools our laboratory will employ are confocal microscopy. electrophysiology. biochemistry. and molecular biology.

Selected Publications

Liu W, Sato A, Khadka D, Bharti R, Diaz H, Runnels LW, Habas R. (2008) Mechanism of activation of the Formin protein Daam1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105(1):210-5.

Li M, Du J, Jiang J, Ratzan W, Su LT, Runnels LW, Yue L. (2007) Molecular determinants of Mg2+ and Ca2+ permeability and pH sensitivity in TRPM6 and TRPM7. J Biol Chem. 282(35):25817-30.

Sato A, Khadka DK, Liu W, Bharti R, Runnels LW, Dawid IB, Habas R. (2006) Profilin is an effector for Daam1 in non-canonical Wnt signaling and is required for vertebrate gastrulation. Development. 133(21):4219-31.

Su LT. Agapito MA. Li M. Simonson WT. Huttenlocher A. Habas R. Yue L. Runnels LW. (2006) TRPM7 regulates cell adhesion by controlling the calcium-dependent protease calpain. J Biol Chem. 281(16):11260-70.

Runnels. L.W.. Yue. L.. and Clapham. D.E. (2002). The TRPM7 channel is inactivated by PIP2 hydrolysis. Nature Cell Biology. 4(5):329-36.

Clapham. D.E.. Runnels. L.W.. and Strubing. C. (2001). The TRP ion channel family." 2(6):387-96. Runnels. L.W.. Yue. L.. and Clapham. D.E. (2001). TRP-PLIK. a bifunctional protein with kinase and ion channel activities. Science. 291(5506): 1043-1047.

Runnels. L.W. and Scarlata. S.F.. 1999. Determination of the affinities between heterotrimeric G protein subunits and their phospholipase C-beta effectors. Biochemistry. 38(5): 1488-96.