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Donald Hilgemann, PhD
Endowed Title: Roy and Christine Sturgis Chair in Biomedical Research
Cell Regulation
Neuroscience
Contact Information
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390
Office Phone: 214-645-6000
Biography
In 1997 the international Biophysical Society named Dr. Don Hilgemann the Young Investigator of the Year in recognition of his outstanding contributions to biophysical research. His research at UT Southwestern involves the study of ion channels and transporters, which regulate many cell functions from cardiac contraction to vision to insulin secretion. The transporters include a cardiac Na/Ca exchange system, the Na/K pump, and sodium-coupled neurotransmitter transporters. The ion channels include potassium channels, which control the rates of electrical activity in the brain, heart, and pancreas, as well as ion channels opened by cyclic nucleotides that initiate the vision and smell processes.
To improve biophysical and regulatory studies of such mechanisms, Dr. Hilgemann improved patch-clamp electrophysiological methods to allow formation and study of giant membrane patches from many cell types. His methods allow him to study conformational changes of transport proteins with one microsecond resolution, and it is his long-term goal to reconstitute important membrane-associated processes in the patches such as phototransduction, calcium release, and membrane insertion and retrieval. He recently discovered that phosphatidylinositides are important regulators of a wide range of ion transporters and channels. He is now studying how enzymes involved in phosphatidylinositide synthesis and degradation are regulated by cell signaling mechanisms, and how they regulate cell function through modulation of ion transport activities.
Education
| Graduate School | University of Tubeingen (1980) |
Research Interests
Publications
Related Articles, LinksYaradanakul A, Feng S, Shen C, Lariccia V, Lin MJ, Yang J, Kang T M, Dong P, Yin HL, Albanesi JP, Hilgemann DW. , The Journal of Physiology , June 2007; (582):991-1010
Hilgemann DW, Feng S, Nasuhoglu C , Sci STKE , December 2001; (2001(111)):RE19
Hwang C, Feng Y, and Hilgemann DW , Nature , 1998; (391):803-06
Hilgemann DW, Lu C-C , Methods in Enzymology , 1998; (293):267-80
Hilgemann DW, Ball R , Science , 1996; (273(5277)):956-9
Fuster D, Moe OW, Hilgemann DW , J Gen Physiol , October 2008; (132(4)):465-80
Hilgemann DW , Pflugers Arch , October 2007; (455(1)):55-67
Yaradanakul A, Wang TM, Lariccia V, Lin MJ, Shen C, Liu X, Hilgemann DW , J Gen Physiol , July 2008; (132(1)):29-50
Wang TM, Hilgemann DW , J Gen Physiol , July 2008; (132(1)):51-65
Yaradanakul A, Hilgemann DW , J Membr Biol , December 2007; (220(1-3)):53-67
Related Links
Honors/Awards
Graduate research award, German Scientific Society (DFG)
Lievre Research Award for best cardiovascular research, Greater Los Angeles
Established Investigatorship, American Heart Association
Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (University of Kyoto)
Young Investigator Award: International Biophysical Society