Merritt Maduke

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University

The goal of research in the Maduke laboratory is to determine the molecular mechanisms of the “ClC” chloride channels and transporters. To approach this they combine biophysical methods to probe protein structure and dynamics together with electrophysiological analysis to directly measure function. From a mechanistic standpoint, the ClC family is unusual in containing both ion channels and active transporters. By studying ion-transport mechanisms in both types of ClC proteins, they aim to discover how these proteins have evolved to carry out these ostensibly different functions; this work promises not only to clarify our understanding of the ClCs but also to yield new insight into the elemental distinctions and similarities between channels and active transporters.