Integrative Physiology Section
Robert S
Balaban, PhD, Principal Investigator
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This is an image of NAD(P)H fluorescence of the tibialis anterior of a living mouse taken with two-photon microscopy. Read more |
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The focus of the integrative physiology program is the understanding of the regulatory network in the heart that controls the flow of energy. This includes the delivery of oxygen and metabolic substrates from the blood, to the energy conversion processes in the cell, to the actual muscle contraction and ion transport associated with the pumping of blood. Currently, a major effort is in place determining the cytosolic factors that balance the interaction of work with the production of ATP at the mitochondria. This is being accomplished at the level of the intact cell using confocal microscopy techniques as well as on isolated organelles and proteins. The basic hypothesis being tested is that the activation of work and ATP production occurs in parallel via intracellular Ca. We are currently working on the mechanisms that Ca can regulate muscle energy metabolism in mitochondria in the intact cell.
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