People / Cox Laboratory

Contact

Dan H. Cox, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine
Phone: (617) 636-7868
Fax: 617-636-0576
dan.cox@tufts.edu

Search for recent publications by Dan Cox

Research Interests

Ion channel proteins form pores in the surface of living cells. When these pores are open, they create electrical currents that are essential to many biological processes including the generation of nerve impulses, muscle-contraction, and the release of neurotransmitters. Our research focuses on a certain type of ion channel, the calcium-activated potassium channel. We are studying how this channel is activated by calcium and how auxiliary subunits confer tissue-specific functional properties on the channel. We are also examining the mechanisms by which this channel is regulated in vascular smooth muscle by estrogens, an effect that is thought to help protect women against cardiovascular disease.

Dan is also an Assistant Professor in the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center. Click here for more information.

Lab Members

PostDoc Positions are Available to Study:

1. Studying the structure of the Large-conductance Ca²⁺ -activated K⁺ channel (BK_Ca) channel as it relates to its ability to sense Ca²⁺.
2. Studying the interaction between Ca²⁺ channels and BK_Ca channels as they operate as a functional unit in nerve terminals.

Publications

Sweet TB, Cox DH. (2009) Measuring the Influence of the BKCa b1 Subunit on Ca²⁺ Binding to the BK_Ca Channel. J Gen Physiol. 133:139-150

Sweet TB, Cox DH. (2008) Measurements of the BKCa channel's high-affinity Ca2+ binding constants: effects of membrane voltage. J Gen Physiol. 132(5):491-505. PMCID: PMC2571968.

Kelley-Hedgepeth A, Peter I, Kip KE, Montefusco MC, Kogan S, Cox D, Ordovas JM, Levy D, Reis SE, Mendelsohn ME, Housman D, Huggins GS (2008). The protective effect of KCNMB1 E65K against hypertension is restricted to blood pressure treatment with β-blockade. Journal of Human Hypertension 22:512-5.

Kim HJ, Lim HH, Rho SH, Bao L, Lee JH, Cox DH, Kim DH, Park CS. (2008) Modulation of the Conductance-Voltage Relationship of the BKCa Channel by Mutations at the Putative Flexible Interface Between Two RCK Domains. Biophys J. 94(2):446-56.

Cox DH. (2007) BKCa-Channel Structure and Function. Biological Membrane Ion Channels, Chung, Shin-Ho; Andersen, Olaf S.; Krishnamurthy, Vikram (Eds.). Chapter 5:171-219.

Isacson CK, Lu Q, Karas RH, Cox DH. (2007) RACK1 is a BKCa-Channel Binding Protein. American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology 292(4):C1459-66.

Bao, L. and Cox, D. (2005) Gating and ionic currents reveal how the BKCa channel's Ca22+ sensitivity is enhanced by its beta1 subunit. J. Gen. Physiol. 126(4):393-412.

Cox, Daniel H. (2005) The BKCa Channel's Ca2+-binding Sites, Multiple Sites, Multiple Ions J. Gen. Physiol. 2005 125: 253-255.

Bao, L., Kaldany, C. Holmstrand, E. C..and Cox, D.H. (2004) Mapping the BKCa channel’s “Ca2+ Bowl”: Side-Chains Essential for Ca2+ Sensing J. Gen. Physiol. 121: 475-489.

Bao, L., Rapin, A.M., Holmstrand, E.C. and Cox, D.H. (2002) Elimination of the BKCa Channel's High-Affinity Ca2+ Sensitivity J. Gen. Physiol. 120: 173-189.

Zhu, Y., Bian, Z., Lu, P., Karas, R. H., Bao, L., Cox, D., Hodgin, J., Shaul, P. W., Thoren, P., Smithies, O., Gustafsson, J. A., and Mendelsohn, M. E. (2002). Abnormal vascular function and hypertension in mice deficient in estrogen receptor beta. Science 295, 505-8.

Cox, D. H. and Aldrich, R. W. (2000). Role of the b1 Subunit in Large-Conductance Ca2+-activated K+ Channel Gating Energetics: Mechanisms of Enhanced Ca2+ Sensitivity J. of Gen. Physiol. 116: 411-432

Cox, D. H., Cui, J., and Aldrich, R. W. (1997). Allosteric gating of a large conductance Ca-activated K+ Channel. Journal of General Physiology 110 257-281.

Cox, D. H., Cui, J., and Aldrich, R. W. (1997). Separation of gating properties from permeation and block in mSlo large conductance Ca-activated K+ channels. Journal of General Physiology 109, 633-46.

Cui, J., Cox, D. H., and Aldrich, R. W. (1997). Intrinsic voltage dependence and Ca2+ regulation of mSlo large conductance Ca-activated K+ channels. Journal of General Physiology 109, 647-73.

Cox, D.H. and Dunlap, K. (1994). Inactivation of N-type calcium current in chick sensory neurons: calcium and voltage dependence Journal of General Physiology 104, 311-336

Dunlap, K., Cox, D.H., Diversé-Pierluissi, M., Gruner, W., Silva, L., and Turner, T.J. (1994) Calcium channels: modulation and control of neurosecretion. In: Molecular Neurobiology (Zalcman, S., Scheller, R., and Tsien, R., eds.) pp. 143-155

Cox, D. H. and Dunlap, K. (1992). "Pharmacological discrimination of N-type from L-type calcium current and its selective modulation by transmitters” Journal of Neuroscience 12, 906-914.

Santi, M. R., Cox, D.H. and Guidotti A. (1988). "Heterogeneity of gamma-aminobutryic acid/benzodiazepine/beta-carboline receptor complex in rat spinal cord" Journal of Neurochemistry 50, 1080-1086.