Carmen Dessauer
Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
McGovern Medical School
Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology
The enzyme adenylyl cyclase synthesizes the intracellular second messenger cyclic AMP, which plays a key role in functions ranging from control of heart rate and force of contraction to learning and memory. Many hormones and drugs mediate their actions by binding to G protein-coupled receptors that regulate cAMP production, including opioids. Our laboratory is using biochemical, molecular, and cellular techniques, including live-cell imaging, FRET, and FLIM to understand the complex regulation of adenylyl cyclase by heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins and other cellular regulators. A major question in the laboratory is how the fidelity of signaling is maintained within a cell. Cyclic AMP is a small diffusible molecule, yet many hormones stimulate cAMP production but elicit different biological responses.
We have explored the spatial and temporal regulation of cAMP signaling and identified scaffolding proteins, known as A Kinase Anchoring Proteins (AKAPs) that can bind to specific isoforms of adenylyl cyclase to temporally and spatially regulate cyclic AMP. These complexes shape the dynamics of cyclic AMP production in terms of the magnitude of the signal, the temporal nature of PKA activation, and regulation of specific downstream targets, including ion channels. We study these signaling complexes with respect to cardiac and neuronal function, where cyclic AMP signaling is often altered in disease states. With respect to heart, we focus on cardiac arrhythmias and the local control of cyclic AMP and signaling. With respect to neurons, we are particularly interested in how cyclic AMP signaling functions within the dorsal root ganglia to maintain chronic pain and why the response to opioids is dampened in neuropathic pain conditions, including those after spinal cord injury.
Our research aims to identify drugs and drug targets that can block chronic pain states.
McGovern Medical School Faculty
YouTube Video - Meet Dr. Dessauer
Education & Training
Ph.D. - Louisiana State University - 1993
Research Info
Regulation of adenylyl cyclase and cyclic AMP signaling