DEPARTMENT OF MOLECULAR PHYSIOLOGY
AND BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS
Research Opportunities
Dr. Richard A. Murphy
The research interests in my laboratory are focused on the mechanism of chemomechanical transduction, the molecular regulatory mechanisms governing crossbridge interactions, and the role of molecular variants of contractile, regulatory, and cytoskeletal proteins in functional diversity in smooth muscle. These questions are pursued by a multidisciplinary approach, including
- biophysical analysis of the mechanical output of isolated smooth muscle
- biochemical studies of isolated proteins and of reactions such as crossbridge phosphorylation in intact tissue involved in regulation
- electrophoretic and immunological separation analyses of protein variants
- estimates of cell Ca2+, ATP consumption rates and the energetics of contraction from measurements of oxygen consumption or heat production
- structural studies, and
- mathematical modeling of proposed regulating mechanisms.