University of Toronto Biochemistry

Membranes and Transport

Biological membranes are complex and dynamic ensembles of lipids and proteins, which define the limits of cells and organelles and carry out a variety of specialized functions including energy transduction, communication, and cellular homeostasis.

The organization, targeting and assembly of membrane components are active areas of study in the Department. Organisms devote about 1/3 of their genomes to encode membrane proteins and mutations in these genes or alterations in their expression are often linked to disease. How these alterations affect membrane protein structure, function and biosynthesis is a very active area of investigation.

A key function of membranes is transport and a number of members of the Department are studying molecular aspects of membrane transport systems. A wide range of techniques, encompassing structural, molecular and cell biology, is employed in the study of membranes.

Faculty currently doing research in this area:

R.R. Baker Professor Emeritus Phospholipid and Glyceride Metabolism in Neuronal Nuclei and Ischemic Brain Medical Sciences Building, Room 5219A 416-978-6921 roy.baker@utoronto.ca	C.E. Bear Epithelial Chloride Channels and Their Role in Cell Physiology and Pathophysiology Hospital for Sick Children, Elizabeth McMaster Building, Room 3203B 416-813-5981 bear@sickkids.ca
D.M. Clarke Canada Research Chair in Membrane Biology Structure and Function of Membrane Transport Proteins Medical Sciences Building, Room 7342 416-978-1105 david.clarke@utoronto.ca	C.M. Deber Protein Structure in Membrane Domains Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3427A 416-813-5924 deber@sickkids.ca
C. Enenkel Regulation of Proteasome Homeostasis Medical Sciences Bldg., Room 5306 416-978-3843 cordula.enenkel@utoronto.ca	S. Grinstein Biological Membranes and Ion Transport Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Building, Room 5006 416-813-5727 sga@sickkids.ca
J.W. Gurd Professor Emeritus Effect of Stress on the Molecular Composition of Excitatory Synapses of the Central Nervous System Centre for the Neurobioloy of Stress, Division of Life Science, University of Toronto at Scarborough 416-287-7410 gurd@utsc.utoronto.ca	S. O. Kelley Molecular and cellular sensors Medical Sciences Building, Room 5326 416-978-4415 shana.kelley@utoronto.ca
P.K. Kim Molecular Mechanisms of Peroxisome Maintenance Hospital for Sick Children, Division of Cell Biology, McMaster Building, Room 4004A 416-813-5983 pk.kim@utoronto.ca	A. Klip Regulation of Glucose Transport and Membrane Proteins in Muscle Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Building, Room 5004B 416-813-6392 amira@sickkids.ca
C.A. Lingwood Receptor Function of Glycolipids Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 7114 416-813-5998 cling@sickkids.ca	D.H. MacLennan Professor Emeritus Membrane Transport and Molecular Biology of Membrane Proteins Banting & Best Department of Medical Research, Room 305A 416-978-6408 david.maclennan@utoronto.ca
M.F. Manolson Assembly, Targeting, and Control of Proton Pumping V-ATPases Faculty of Dentistry, 124 Edward Street Room 403 416-979-4900 #4392 m.manolson@utoronto.ca	A. McQuibban Mechanisms of Mitochondrial Membrane Dynamics and their Relation to Cell Function Medical Sciences Building, Room 5342 416-978-6820 angus.mcquibban@utoronto.ca
R. Melnyk Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Approaches Hospital for Sick Kids, Room 3203A 416-813-7654 x28557 roman.melnyk@sickkids.ca

[an error occurred while processing this directive]	A. Palazzo Mechanism of mRNA Export and Localization Medical Sciences Building, Room 5242 416-978-7450 alex.palazzo@utoronto.ca
R. Pomès Theoretical Methods Applied to the Structure, Function and Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3405 416-813-5686 pomes@sickkids.ca	G. Privé Protein Structure and X-Ray Crystallography MaRS Toronto Medical Discovery Tower Room 4-302 416-581-7541 prive@uhnres.utoronto.ca
R. Reithmeier Structure and Function of Membrane Proteins Medical Sciences Building, Room 5242 416-978-7739 r.reithmeier@utoronto.ca	D. Rotin Biochemical and biological functions of the ubiquitin system Hospital for Sick Children,TMDT-MaRS, Room 11-305 416-813-5098 drotin@sickkids.ca
J. Rubinstein Electron cryomicroscopy of macromolecular assemblies Molecular Structure and Function Program, Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 20-9705 416-813-7255 john.rubinstein@utoronto.ca	B. Sarkar Professor Emeritus DNA-Binding Proteins and Proteins of Metal Transport: Structure and Function Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3427 416-813-5921 Bibudhendra.Sarkar@sickkids.ca
S. Sharpe Structure and assembly of membrane-active proteins and peptides by solid-state NMR Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3503 416-813-7852 ssharpe@sickkids.ca	I. Stagljar Protein Interaction Networks regulating Cell Signaling and Membrane Transport in Health and Disease Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (dCCBR) Room 1204 416-946-7828 igor.stagljar@utoronto.ca
W.S. Trimble Regulation of Cell Division and Secretion Hospital for Sick Children, Division of Cell Biology, McMaster Building, Room 4004A 416-813-6889 wtrimble@sickkids.ca	A. Volchuk Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and the Unfolded Protein Response in Pancreatic beta-Cells MaRS Centre, Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, 10th Floor, Rm 10-706 416-581-7675 avolchuk@uhnres.utoronto.ca
D.B. Williams Protein Folding & Quality Control within the Endoplasmic Reticulum Medical Sciences Building, Room 5316 416-978-2546 david.williams@utoronto.ca	C.M. Yip Biomolecular Engineering at Interfaces Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (CCBR) Room 404 416-978-7853 christopher.yip@utoronto.ca

Department of Biochemistry
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada

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