Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics
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Guillermo Altenberg, MD, Ph.DAssociate Professor of Cell Physiology and
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Curriculum Vitae
Research Interest
My laboratory is interested on the mechanisms of transport across biological membranes, with a focus on membrane protein structure, function and regulation. Our target proteins are connexins, the gap-junction-forming proteins, and multidrug-resistance proteins of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily, which export a number of chemically dissimilar compounds from the cells. Connexins are essential for cell-to-cell electrical and chemical communication, and are involved in development, as well as in physiological and pathophysiological processes. Expression of multidrug-resistance proteins such as P-glycoprotein (MDR1) confers resistance to chemotherapeutic agents in cancer cells.