Henry K. Beecher Pharmacology Laboratory
Summary
Science
Features
General anesthesia is among the most important advances in medicinal pharmacology. While general anesthesia has been in widespread clinical use for 160 years, we still don't know fully how general anesthetics produce their various effects on the nervous system. This makes general anesthetics almost unique among modern pharmaceuticals, many of which bind with high affinity to specific molecular targets in the body. Furthermore, general anesthetics are challenging drugs to study.
Our research focuses on elucidating molecular mechanisms of general anesthesia. Of particular interest are fast ligand-gated ion channel proteins that participate in neuron-to-neuron communication (neurotransmission) in the central nervous system. These ligand-gated ion channels include nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors, serotonin type 3 receptors, glycine receptors, and others.
Related Links
Stuart A. Forman
Researching Anesthesia
Minimum Alveolar Concentration (MAC)
Etomidate
The GABAA Receptor Gamma Subunit
Serotonin Type 3 Receptors
Artificial Synapse
Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology
Kinetic Models
Xenopus Oocyte Electrophysiology
Allosteric Co-Agonist Model for Etomidate | 
