Dr. Nikolai N. Modyanov, currently working as a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at The University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo. He also worked as Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Medical College of Ohio, Toledo and as visiting professor for the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Dr. Nikolai N. Modyanov research interests focused on the molecular aspects of ion transport across biological membranes, and primarily on the structure-function relationship of the ion-transporting ATPases that are receptors for cardiotonic drugs (Na,K-ATPase) and antiulcer drugs (H,K-ATPase).
He resently discovered the unique BetaM proteins encoded by ATP1B4 genes, members of X,K-ATPase gene family. He determined that ATP1B4 genes represent a rare instance of orthologous vertebrate gene co-option that created fundamental changes in the physiological roles and functional properties of the BetaM encoded proteins which are Na,K-ATPase subunits in lower vertebrates. In placental mammals BetaM-proteins lost their ancestral functions and acquired entirely new functions as proteins in the inner nuclear membrane of heart and skeletal muscle, which regulate gene expression and signal transduction acting specifically during a critical period of perinatal development and adult muscle regeneration.
