J Physiol 000.0 (2016) pp 1–22 1
ANNUAL REVIEW PRIZE LECTURE Voltage-gated calcium channels and their auxiliary subunits: physiology and pathophysiology and pharmacology
Annette C. Dolphin
Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Neuroscience
Ca channel Dendrites V α δ 2
α1 Cell body β
GPCR
Ca2+ Ca 2 Pre-synaptic V terminal
Neuro- transmitter Postsynaptic neuron
Abstract Voltage-gated calcium channels are essential players in many physiological processes in excitable cells. There are three main subdivisions of calcium channel, defined by the pore-forming
The Journal of Physiology α1 subunit, the CaV1, CaV2andCaV3 channels. For all the subtypes of voltage-gated calcium channel, their gating properties are key for the precise control of neurotransmitter release, muscle contraction and cell excitability, among many other processes. For the CaV1andCaV2 channels, their ability to reach their required destinations in the cell membrane, their activation and the fine tuning of their biophysical properties are all dramatically influenced by the auxiliary subunits
Annette Dolphin received her BA in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) from the University of Oxford and her PhD from University of London, Institute of Psychiatry. She then held postdoctoral fellowships at the College de France in Paris with Joel Bockart, and at Yale University with Paul Greengard, before returning to UK to a staff scientist post at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, working with Tim Bliss. She then moved to an academic position as a lecturer in the Pharmacology Department of St George’s Hospital Medical School, London University. She was appointed Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London University in 1990, and moved to University College London in 1997. She is Professor of Pharmacology in the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at UCL. She was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999, and the Royal Society in 2015. She is currently a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator.