Bruce Palmer Bean, PhD

Neuronal Excitability and Ion Channel Pharmacology

Neurons communicate with each other using electrical impulses. Information is encoded as patterns of “action potentials”, millisecond-long reversals of the voltage across the cell membrane. Different neurons in the brain fire action potentials with a variety of distinct patterns. The Bean lab seeks to understand these different patterns of firing in terms of the underlying molecular devices – tiny pores in the membrane known as ion channels.

In mammalian brains, each neuron possesses several dozen different types of ion channels. Most of these are closed when the neuron is at rest (electrically silent). It is the coordinated, transient opening, or “gating” of particular types of ion channels that underlies electrical signaling. To understand how different combinations of ion channels work together to generate the distinct patterns of action potential firing in different neurons, we make electrical recordings of these cells using patch clamp, voltage clamp and other electrophysiological approaches.

Our goal is to use knowledge of the particular ion channels in different kinds of neurons to find new drugs that can selectively inhibit or enhance electrical activity of specific type of neurons by targeting specific ion channels. In collaboration with Dr. Clifford Woolf’s laboratory, we are currently focused on finding new drugs to treat pain, itch, and cough. We are also seeking to identify new drugs to disrupt epileptic activity.