Vann Bennett
George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology
Overview
A major interest of our laboratory is in understanding how cells in metazoan organisms manage to target ion channels to physiological sites that optimize their physiological efficiency. Our research began with discovery of the ankyrin family of membrane-adapter proteins, which interact with structurally diverse membrane proteins and couple these proteins to the spectrin-based membrane skeleton. Currently identified ankyrin partners are anion exchangers, the Na/K ATPase, the voltage-dependent sodium channel, and the Na/Ca exchanger. Ankyrin(s) also associate with calcium-release channels including both IP3 and ryanodine receptors. Finally, ankyrins also bind to cell adhesion molecules of the L1 CAM family (L1/neurofascin/NrCAM/NgCAM in vertebrates; neuroglian in Drosophila; LAD-1 in C. elegans). Ankyrins interact with these diverse proteins through a motif known as ANK repeats, which are found in many different proteins and operate in protein recognition for multiple structurally unrelated ligands.
We have recently reported that humans heterozygous for a E1425G loss-of-function mutation in ankyrin-B and mice heterozygous for a null mutation in ankyrin-B have type 4 long QT syndrome, a cardiac arrhythmia associated with sudden cardiac death. We also have discovered that ankyri9n-B mutation results in reduced levels of Na/Ca exchanger, Na/K ATPase, and IP3 R at T-tubule sites in cardiomyocytes and leads to altered Ca2+ signaling and extrasystoles that provide a rationale for the arrhythmia. This work has identified a new mechanism for cardiac arrhythmia due to abnormal co-ordination of multiple functionally related ion channels and transporters. We have also found that conditional knockout of ankyrin-G in the mouse cerebellum results in severe ataxia accompanied by coordinate loss of the sodium channel Nav1.6, neurofascin (a member of the L1CAM family), and beta IV spectrin from axon initial segments. These studies, together with the role of ankyrin-B in type 4 long QT syndrome, establish a physiological requirement for ankyrins in localization of a variety of ion channels in excitable membranes in the heart and nervous system, and suggest a new class of functional channelopathies due to abnormal cellular localization.
Future research will be based on the discovery that ankyrin-B and ankyrin-G have physiological roles as coordinators of multiple functionally related proteins in specialized cell membrane compartments. A major effort will be to understand mechanisms, beginning at a protein level with ankyrin-B structure and function, and including the cellular basis for ankyrin-B-dependent protein sorting in cardiomyocytes. We also plan to study the roles of ankyrins B and G in ion channel organization in the visual system using targeted gene knockouts in rods, retinal ganglion neurons, and retinal pigmented epithelial cells (mice with loss of function may be blind but should be viable).
Positions
George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology in the School of Medicine
2012 School of Medicine
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine
2023 School of Medicine
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute in the School of Medicine
1987 School of Medicine
Education
Ph.D. 1975
1975 Johns Hopkins University
M.D. 1976
1976 Johns Hopkins University
Publications, Grants & Awards
- Grants (25)
- Awards (7)
- Academics Articles (325)
- Conference Pages (25)
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
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National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
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National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Association of American Physicians
National Academy of Sciences of the USA
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Society of Clinical Investigation
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Journal of Visualized Experiments : Jove
Mol Psychiatry
Mol Psychiatry
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Dev Biol
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Current Topics in Membranes
Science Advances
J Clin Invest
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
The Journal of Cell Biology
Nat Neurosci
Circulation Research
The Journal of Cell Biology
Brain Struct Funct
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Current Topics in Membranes
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Biophysical Journal
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society
Biophysical Journal
Science Signaling
Biophysical Journal
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
J Cardiovasc Pharmacol
Science
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Curr Opin Cell Biol
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Cell Biology
Trends in Molecular Medicine
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Biophysical Journal
Journal of Neurophysiology
Journal of Neuroscience
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Plos Biology
Plos Biology
Frontiers in Bioscience : a Journal and Virtual Library
Current Opinion in Cardiology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Cell Structure and Function
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Cell Biology
Journal of Neuroscience
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Journal of Neuroscience
The Journal of General Physiology
Australian Family Physician
Journal of Cell Science
Journal of Cell Science
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Journal of Cell Science
The Journal of Cell Biology
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Journal of Cell Science
The Journal of Cell Biology
Physiological Reviews
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
Current Opinion in Cell Biology
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Nursing
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
Febs Letters
The Journal of Cell Biology
Circulation Research
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Cell Biology
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Cell Biology
Journal of Neurochemistry
Journal of Neurocytology
Journal of Neurocytology
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Journal of Neurochemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
The Journal of Cell Biology
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
The Journal of General Physiology
Society of General Physiologists Series
International History of Nursing Journal : Ihnj
The Journal of Experimental Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Current Topics in Membranes and Transport
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of General Physiology
Mammalian Genome : Official Journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Nursing Times
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
MEMBRANE PROTEIN-CYTOSKELETON INTERACTIONS
Stem Cells (Dayton, Ohio)
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Fertility and Sterility
Fertility and Sterility
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Lancet (London, England)
The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The American Journal of Physiology
The American Journal of Physiology
The Journal of Cell Biology
Biophysical Journal
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
European Journal of Biochemistry
The Journal of Cell Biology
Seminars in Hematology
Journal of Cell Science. Supplement
Annual Review of Cell Biology
Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Trends in Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
Biochemical Society Transactions
The Journal of Cell Biology
Blood
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
Current Topics in Membranes
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Physiological Reviews
Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Mutation Research
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Nature
The Journal of Cell Biology
Biophysical Journal
Current Opinion in Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Clinical Research
Clinical Research
Journal of Investigative Dermatology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Protoplasma
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
European Journal of Cell Biology
The Journal of Cell Biology
Society of General Physiologists Series
The Journal of General Physiology
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
European Journal of Cell Biology
Brain Research Bulletin
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Methods in Enzymology
Science (New York, N.Y.)
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Science (New York, N.Y.)
The Journal of Cell Biology
Annual Review of Biochemistry
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
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Health Visitor
Federation Proceedings
Federation Proceedings
Progress in Clinical and Biological Research
Progress in Clinical and Biological Research
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American Heart Journal
Cell Motility
Cell Motility
Methods in Enzymology
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The New England Journal of Medicine
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Journal of Supramolecular Structure and Cellular Biochemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Catheterization and Cardiovascular Diagnosis
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Progress in Clinical and Biological Research
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Journal of Supramolecular and Cellular Biochemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Journal of Cyclic Nucleotide Research
The Journal of Membrane Biology
Journal of Supramolecular Structure
The Journal of Membrane Biology
The Journal of Membrane Biology
The Journal of Membrane Biology
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Recent Progress in Hormone Research
The Journal of Membrane Biology
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Federation Proceedings
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Faseb Journal
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Journal of Neurochemistry
Journal of Neurochemistry
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Biophysical Journal
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF NORMAL AND ABNORMAL ERYTHROID MEMBRANES
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