DR. WAYNE CHEN

B.Sc. (China), Ph.D. (London) - Professor, Department of Physiology & Biophysics and the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

Affiliations: Member - Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta.

Research Interests:

Research in my laboratory is directed towards understanding the structure/function relationships and physiological roles of the calcium release channel (ryanodine receptor) (RyR) in cardiac function.  Our current research interests focus on: (i) the molecular and cellular basis of cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death, (ii) the molecular actions of pro- and anti-arrhythmic drugs and the development of novel anti-arrhythmic therapies, (iii) the molecular mechanisms of RyR activation by cytoplasmic and luminal calcium, (iv) regulation of RyR by phosphorylation, calmodulin and other protein regulators; and (v) three-dimensional structure of RyR. Techniques used in our studies include site-directed mutagenesis, single channel recordings in planar lipid bilayers, fluorescence Ca2+ imaging, purification of recombinant RyR proteins for biochemical and structural studies, cryo-electron microscopy, and gene targeting in mice.

Personnel:
Administrative Assistant: Ms. Pia Baker

View Pub Med for Recent publications & abstracts

Recent Publications:

• Masakazu Obayashi, Bailong Xiao, Bruno D. Stuyvers, Allen W. Davidoff, Jie Mei, S.R. Wayne Chen and Henk E.D.J. ter Keurs (2006) Spontaneous diastolic contractions and phosphorylation of the cardiac ryanodine receptor at serine-2808 in congestive heart failure in rat. Cardiovascular Res. 69(1):140-51.
• Bailong Xiao, Guofeng Zhong, Masakazu Obayashi, Dongmei Yang, Keyun Chen, Michael P. Walsh, Yakhin Shimoni, Heping Cheng, Henk ter Keurs, and S. R. Wayne Chen (2006) Serine-2030, But not Serine-2808, Is the Major Phosphorylation Site in Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Responding to Protein Kinase A Activation Upon -Adrenergic Stimulation in Normal and Failing Hearts. Biochem. J. (in press)

Contact Information:

The University of Calgary,
Room GAC56 Health Research Innovation Centre
3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary,
Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
Phone (403) 220-4235
Fax: (403) 210-8105
E-mail: swchen [at] ucalgary [dot] ca