Membrane Transport Biophysics Unit - Division of Intramural Research

 Joseph A.  Mindell  M.D., Ph.D., Investigator

Dr. Mindell received his B.S. degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1986. In 1994 he received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he worked with Alan Finkelstein studying the structure and function of ion channels formed by diphtheria toxin. After a residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dr. Mindell did post-doctoral work with Chris Miller at Brandeis University; there he focused on structural and functional characterization of ClC-type chloride channels using cryoelectron microscopy and other approaches. Dr. Mindell joined NINDS as an investigator in 2002. His laboratory is using a combination of structural and functional approaches to answer mechanistic questions regarding ClC channels and other anion transport proteins.

Laboratory Staff

Emma Compton, Ph.D. Visiting Fellow  301-402- 6344
Patricia Curran,  Research Assistant  301-402- 6344
Austin Graves, B.A. Post baccalaureate Fellow 
Jeremiah Osteen, B.A. Post baccalaureate Fellow 
Candace Pfefferkorn, B.S. Graduate Student  301-451- 3463
Renae Ryan, Ph.D. Visiting Fellow  301-451- 3463

Research Interests

The Membrane Transport Biophysics Unit focuses on understanding the physical principles governing membrane-protein function. Our major model proteins are members of the ClC family of anion-transport proteins. Use a combination of biochemical and physiological approaches, we seek to understand the protein elements mediating chloride selectivity as well as those involved in regulating the passage of ions across the membrane. Recent developments, including the determination of a high-resolution structure of a bacterial ClC, have allowed us to focus our attention on particular regions of these proteins, which we explore with combinations of biochemistry, genetic mutation, and electrical recordings.

Selected Recent Publications

Graves AR. Curran PK, Smith CL, Mindell JA
The Cl-/H+ antiporter ClC-7 is the primary chloride permeation pathway in lysosomes - Nature  doi:10.1038/nature06907  2008

Ryan RM and Mindell JA
The uncoupled chloride conductance of a bacterial glutamate - Nature Structural and Molecular Biology  14 365-71 2007

Bell SP, Curran PK, Choi S, and JA Mindell
Site-directed fluorescence studies of a prokaryotic ClC transporter - Biochemistry  45 6773 2006

Phillips LR, Milescu M, Li-Smerin Y, Mindell JA, Kim JI, Swartz KJ
Voltage-sensor activation with a tarantula toxin as cargo - Nature  436 857-60 2005

Maduke M and Mindell JA
The poststructural festivities begin - Neuron  38 1-3 2003

Mindell JA, Maduke M, Miller C, Grigorieff N
Projection structure of a ClC-type Cl- channel at 6.5 angstrom resolution - Nature   409 219 2001

Selected Earlier Publications

Contact Information

Membrane Transport Biophysics Unit, NINDS Porter Neuroscience Research Center  Building 35, Room 3B-1014  35 Convent Drive, MSC 3701 Bethesda MD  20892-3701

Telephone: 301-402- 3473 (office), - - (laboratory), 301-435- 5666 (fax), Email: mindellj@ninds.nih.gov