Role of subthreshold membrane potential instabilities in sensory transduction

Fecha: miércoles 13 de septiembre de 2023.
Hora: 12:00h.
Lugar: Salón de Grados, Facultad de Ciencias, UGR.

Investigador: Dr Karel Talavera. Laboratory of Ion Channel Research, Dept. Cellular and Molecular Medicine, K.U. Leuven (Belgium).

Karel Talavera Pérez graduated in Physics at Havana University (Cuba) in 1996. He obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences from Havana University in 2000 and another in Biomedical Sciences from the KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2004. Since 2010 he is Professor at Faculty of Medicine of the KU Leuven and his group belongs to the Laboratory of Ion Channel Research.

Karel's works on the functional characterization of ion channels, using experimental approaches covering from single-molecule to animal behaviour, and applying biophysical theories and mathematical modelling. Karel has contributed to the understanding of the structure-function relationship and modulation of T-type Ca2+ channels, and from 2004, to the characterization of _T_ransient _R_eceptor _P_otential (TRP) cation channels. He has mainly focused on TRP channels involved in sensory functions and related phenomena, leading to advances in the fields of taste, general chemosensation, pain, inflammation, and more recently, innate immunity. Through collaborations with several clinical groups, Karel's work has found its way in several medical fields, such as urology, airway pathophysiology, toxicology, gastroenterology, and allergy.

Top-5 publications:

• Talavera K, Yasumatsu K, Voets T, Droogmans G, Shigemura N, Ninomiya Y, Margolskee RF and Nilius B. Heat activation of TRPM5 underlies thermal sensitivity of sweet taste. _Nature_. 2005; 438(7070):1022-5.
• Talavera K, Gees M, Karashima Y, Meseguer VM, Vanoirbeek JA, Damann N, Everaerts W, Benoit M, Janssens A, Vennekens R, Viana F, Nemery B, Nilius B, Voets T. Nicotine activates the chemosensory cation channel TRPA1. _Nat Neuroscience_. 2009 12(10):1293-99.
• Meseguer V, Alpizar YA, Luis E, Tajada S, Denlinger B, Fajardo O, Manenschijn JA, Fernández-Peña C, Talavera A, Kichko T, Navia B, Sánchez A, Señarís R, Reeh P, Pérez-García MT, López-López JR, Voets T, Belmonte C, Talavera K*, Viana F*. TRPA1 channels mediate acute neurogenic inflammation and pain produced by bacterial endotoxins. _Nature Communications_. 2014; 5:3125. *Shared last authorship.
• Alpizar YA, Boonen B, Sanchez A, Jung C, López-Requena A, Naert R, Steelant B, Luyts K, Plata C, De Vooght V, Vanoirbeek JAJ, Meseguer VM, Voets T, Alvarez JL, Hellings PW, Hoet PHM, Nemery B, Valverde MA, Talavera K. TRPV4 activation triggers protective responses to bacterial lipopolysaccharides in airway epithelial cells. _Nat Communications_. 2017; 8(1):1059.
• Talavera K, Startek JB, Alvarez-Collazo J, Boonen B, Alpizar YA, Sanchez A, Naert R, Nilius B. Mammalian transient receptor potential TRPA1 channels: from structure to disease. _Physiological Reviews_. 2020 100(2):725-803.