TWOMEY
LAB
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Twomey Lab

We are a structural biology lab that is interested in method development and in understanding how ion channels, and the macromolecular complexes that regulate them, function in health and disease. Primarily, we will be applying cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to reconstruct the biochemical and molecular processes underlying these problems. We firmly believe that the most informative mechanistic insights into biology come from a deep understanding of the biological machines that govern them.

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Recent News

An expanded role for how the FDA-approved drug memantine functions.

With the Jayaraman Lab at UT Health Houston, we show that memantine inhibits calcium-permeable AMPA receptors (CP-AMPARs). This is significant because memantine is an US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug that selectively inhibits NMDA-subtype ionotropic glutamate receptors (NMDARs) for treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Breaking News Biophysics Blurb

Congrats, Calli!

Calli Bonin, a star undergraduate in the lab, graduates from Hopkins! Congratulations, Calli!

Uncategorized Breaking News

First publication!

Our time-resolved cryo-EM platform, C-SPAM, has been published in IUCrJ! Congratulations, Alejandra and Calli!

Uncategorized Breaking News

Selected Recent Publications

Carrillo, E., Montaño-Romero, A., Gonzalez, C.U., Turcu, A.L., Chen, S., Chen, H., Pan, H., Vázquez, S., Twomey, E.C., Jayaraman, V. “Memantine Inhibits Calcium-Permeable AMPA Receptors.” BioRxiv. 2024. PMID: 39005433. Preprint.

Hale, W.D., Montaño-Romero, A., Gonzalez, C.U., Jayaraman, V., Lau, A.Y., Huganir, R.L., Twomey, E.C. “Allosteric Competition and Inhibition in AMPA Receptors.” Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 2024. PMID: 38834914.

Montaño-Romero, A., Bonin, C., Twomey, E.C. “C-SPAM: an open-source time-resolved specimen vitrification device with light-activated molecules.” IUCrJ. 2024. PMID: 38096039.

Memantine Inhibits Calcium-Permeable AMPA Receptors

Mechanism of AMPA Receptor Inhibition