Our research interests are in molecular biology, electrophysiology and pharmacology of 1) the voltage-gated sodium channel  and 2 a newly discovered voltage gated cation channel in arthropods (insects and arachnids).

Sodium channels are essential for the initiation and propagation of the action potential in almost all excitable cells. They are also the primary targets of several important classes of insecticides including pyrethroid insecticides. We have three ongoing projects in the area of the insect sodium channel:

• Mechanisms of action and resistance of sodium channel-targeted insecticides (supported by NIH).
• Pharmacology of the insect sodium channel (supported by BARD in collaboration with Dr. Dalia Gordon, Tel Aviv Univeristy, Isreal)
• Role of alternative splicing and RNA editing of the sodium channel gene insect neurophysiology (supported by NSF of China in collaboration with Dr. Chuanxi Zhang, Zhejiang University, China).

Two decades ago, Salkoff and colleagues (1987) isolated a sodium channel like gene from Drosophila melanogaster called  DSC1 (Drosphila sodium channel 1). For nearly two decades DSC1 has been thought to encode a voltage-gated sodium channel based on its sequence similarity to sodium channels. However, in collaboration with Professor Al Goldin's lab we made the surprising discover that DSC1 and its orthologue in cockroaches, BSC1, encode the founding members of a novel voltage-gated cation channels (Zhou et al., 2004). Now we are using Drosophilia melanogaster as the model to understand the role of the DSC1 channel in modulating insect neurophysiology and neurotoxicology. We have an ongoing project in this area:


Role of the DSC1 family of cation channels in insect neuphysiology and neuotoxicology (supported by NIH in collaboration with Chun-Fang Wu, Univeristy of Iowa).       
 

Recommended Links:
Dong Lab

Complete List of Dr. Dong's Publications can be accessed here (pdf file)

Recent Publications:

Du Y., Lee, JE., Nomura, Y., Zhang, T., Zhorov BS., Dong K. (2009) Identification of a cluster of residues in transmembrane segment 6 of domain III of the cockroach sodium channel essential for the action of pyrethroid insecticides. Biochem. J. In Press.

Shao YM, Dong K. Zhang CX. (2008). Molecuar characterization of a sodium channel gene from the silkworm Bombyx mori. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 39(2): 145-51.

Olson R., Liu Z., Nomura Y., Song W., Dong K. (2008) Moecular and functional characterization of  voltage-gated sodium channel variants from Drosophila melanogaster. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol.  38:604-610. 

Dong K. (2007) Insect sodium channels and insecticide resistance. Invert. Neurosci. 7: 17-30

Tan, J, Liu, Z, Wang, R, Huang, ZY, Chen, AC, Gurevitz, M, and Dong, K. (2005) Identification of amino acid residues in the insect sodium channel critical for pyrethroid binding. Mol Pharmacol. 67:513-522.

Song, W., Liu, Z., Tan, J., Nomura, Y. and Dong, K. (2004) RNA editing generates tissue-specific sodium channels with distinct gating properties. J. Biol. Chem. 279:32554-32561.

Liu, Z., Song, W. and Dong, K. (2004) Persistent tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium current resulting from U-to-C RNA editing of an insect sodium channel. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101:11862-11867.

Zhou, W., Chung, I., Liu, Z., Goldin, A.L., Dong, K. (2004) A novel voltage-gated calcium-selective channel encoded by a sodium channel-like gene. Neuron 42: 101-112.