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Faculty Profile Last Modified Time: 04:44:48 PM Thu, 11 Jul 2024   Contact Information Carmen W. Dessauer Associated Profiles  Chair, Professor, Integrative Biology & Pharmacology, UT Health Science Center at Houston   Medical School Building, Room No.: 4.202    Carmen.W.Dessauer@uth.tmc.edu     (713)500-6308    Web Link    Lab Webpage    Adenylyl Cyclases, GTP-Binding Proteins, G-Protein-Coupled Receptors, Protein Isoforms, Adenosine Triphosphate, Protein Kinases, Enzymes, Colforsin    Associated Profiles Research and Expertise Affiliations Appointments  Research and Expertise Research Interests   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. 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 regulators of G protein signaling (RGS proteins). 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 are examining how localization of adenylyl cyclase to specific complexes within the membrane plays a role in cellular signaling. We have discovered that specific anchoring proteins of cAMP-dependent kinase (AKAPs) recruit adenylyl cyclase as well as other regulatory molecules. These signaling complexes have important roles at post-synaptic densities in the brain to control glutamate signaling and also function in the heart to control contractile events. We are currently using biochemical and functional studies in brain and heart to further define the nature of adenylyl cyclase complexes and to understand how specificity of signaling is generated and maintained.  Publications/Creative Works Click here to search for this faculty member's publications on PubMed.  Affiliations  Research Consortia John S. Dunn GCC for Chemical Genomics  Training Grants Training Interdisciplinary Pharmacological Scientists  Research Consortia Gulf Coast Consortium for Translational Pain Research GCC Cluster for Cellular and Molecular Biophysics  Appointments Title Department / School Institution Chair, Professor Integrative Biology & Pharmacology UT Health Science Center Houston

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