Blunck Laboratory

Bhat S and Blunck R.
Characterising ion channel structure and dynamics using fluorescence spectroscopy techniques
Biochemical Society Transactions (2022) doi: 10.1042/BST20220605 (in press) Pubmed / Full Text

Dinoi G, Morin M, Conte E, Mor Shaked H, Coppola MA, D'Adamo MC, Elpeleg O, Liantonio A, Hartmann I, De Luca A, Blunck R, Russo A, Imbrici P.
Clinical and Functional Study of a De Novo Variant in the PVP Motif of Kv1.1 Channel Associated with Epilepsy, Developmental Delay and Ataxia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jul 22;23(15):8079. Pubmed / Full Text

McGuire H, Blunck R.
Studying KcsA Channel Clustering Using Single Channel Voltage-Clamp Fluorescence Imaging.
Front Physiol. 2022 Jun 3;13:863375. Pubmed / Full Text

Imbrici P, Conte E, Blunck R, Stregapede F, Liantonio A, Tosi M, D'Adamo MC, De Luca A, Brankovic V, Zanni G.
A Novel KCNA2 Variant in a Patient with Non-Progressive Congenital Ataxia and Epilepsy: Functional Characterization and Sensitivity to 4-Aminopyridine.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 14;22(18):9913. Pubmed / Full Text

Balla C, Conte E, Selvatici R, Marsano RM, Gerbino A, Farnè M, Blunck R, Vitali F, Armaroli A, Brieda A, Liantonio A, De Luca A, Ferlini A, Rapezzi C, Bertini M, Gualandi F, Imbrici P.
Functional Characterization of Two Novel Mutations in SCN5A Associated with Brugada Syndrome Identified in Italian Patients.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jun 17;22(12):6513. Pubmed / Full Text

Rikard Blunck
Determining stoichiometry of ion channel complexes using single subunit counting.
Methods in Enzymology 2021; 653:377-404. Pubmed / Full Text

Paola Imbrici, Andrea Accogli, Rikard Blunck, Concetta Altamura, Michele Iacomino, Maria Cristina D’Adamo, Anna Allegri, Marina Pedemonte, Noemi Brolatti, Stella Vari, Matteo Cataldi, Valeria Capra, Federico Zara, Jean-Francois Desaphy and Chiara Fiorillo
Musculoskeletal features without ataxia associated to a novel de novo mutation in KCNA1 impairing the voltage sensitivity of Kv1.1 channel.
Biomedicines 2021 Jan 14;9(1):75. Pubmed / Full Text

Tao Wu, Yujia Wang, Wei Shi, Bi-Qi Zhang, John Raelson, Yu-Mei Yao, Huan-Dong Wu, Zao-Xian Xu, Francois-Christophe Marois-Blanchet, Jonathan Ledoux, Rikard Blunck, Jian-Zhong Sheng, Shen-Jiang Hu, Hongyu Luo, Jiangping Wu
A Variant in the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Alpha 3 Subunit Gene Is Associated With Hypertension Risks in Hypogonadic Patients.
Frontiers in Genetics 2020 (11); 1526. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.539862. . Pubmed / Full Text

Focht D, Neumann C, Lyons J, Eguskiza Bilbao A, Blunck R, Malinauskaite L, Schwarz IO, Javitch JA, Quick M, Nissen P.
A non-helical region in transmembrane helix 6 of hydrophobic amino acid transporter MhsT mediates substrate recognition.
EMBO J. 2020 Nov 6;e105164. doi: 10.15252/embj.2020105164. . Pubmed / Full Text

Juan Zhao, Dimitri Petitjean, Georges Haddad, Zarah Batulan and Rikard Blunck
A Common Kinetic Property of Mutations Linked to Episodic Ataxia Type 1 Studied in the Shaker Kv Channel
Int J Mol Sci 2020 21 (20), 7602. . Pubmed / Full Text

Lena Möller, Glenn Regnier, Alain Labro, Rikard Blunck and Dirk Snyders
Determining the correct stoichiometry of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetramers, functional in multiple stoichiometrical configurations
PNAS 2020 Apr 13. 117 (17) 9365-76 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1916166117 . Pubmed / Full Text

Lou Beaulieu-Laroche, Marine Christin, Annmarie Donoghue, Francina Agosti, Noosha Yousefpour, Hugues Petitjean, Albena Davidova, Craig Stanton, Uzair Khan, Connor Dietz, Elise Faure, Tarheen Fatima, Amanda MacPherson, Daniel G.Bisson, Lisbet Haglund, Jean A.Ouellet, Laura S.Stone, Jonathan Samson, Mary-Jo Smith, Kjetil Ask, Alfredo Ribeiro-da-Silva, Rikard Blunck, Kate Poole, Emmanuel Bourinet, Reza Sharif-Naeini
TACAN is an ion channel involved in sensing mechanical pain.
Cell 2020 Feb 17. pii: S0092-8674(20)30114-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.01.033 . Pubmed / Full Text

Yoann Lussier, Oliver Fürst, Eva Fortea, Marc Leclerc, Lena Möller, Dimitri Priolo, Daniel Bichet, Rikard Blunck, and Nazzareno D'Avanzo
Disease-linked mutations alter the stoichiometries of HCN-KCNE2 complexes.
Scientific Resports (in press)

Tanja Kalstrup and Rikard Blunck
S4-S5 linker movement during activation and inactivation in voltage-gated K+ channels.
PNAS 2018 Jun 29. pii:201719105 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1719105115. Pubmed / Full Text

Tanja Kalstrup and Rikard Blunck
Voltage-clamp Fluorometry in Xenopus Oocytes Using Fluorescent Unnatural Amino Acids.
J Vis Exp (123), e55598, doi:10.3791/55598 (2017). Pubmed / Full Text

Liebsch F, Aurousseau MRP, Bethge T, McGuire H, Scolari S, Herrmann A, Blunck R, Bowie D, Multhaup G.
Full-length Cellular Beta-secretase Has a Trimeric Subunit Stoichiometry, and Its Sulfur-rich Transmembrane Interaction Site Modulates Cytosolic Copper Compartmentalization.
J Biol Chem 2017 Jun 21. pii: jbc.M117.779165. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M117.779165. Full Text

Juan Zhao and Rikard Blunck
The isolated voltage sensing domain of the Shaker potassium channel forms a voltage-gated cation channel .
eLife 2016 10.7554/eLife.18130 Pubmed / Full Text

Lucien Fabre, Eugenio Santelli, Driss Mountassif, Annemarie Donoghue, Aviroop Biswas, Rikard Blunck, Dorit Hanein, Niels Volkmann, Robert Liddington, Isabelle Rouiller
Structure of anthrax lethal toxin prepore complex suggests a pathway for efficient cell entry.
J Gen Physiol 2016 September 26; 148(4): 313-324. doi:10.1085/jgp.201611617 Full Text

Sasseville, L. Morin, M. Coady, M. Blunck R. and Lapointe J.-Y.
The Human Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter (hSGLT1) Is a Disulfide-Bridged Homodimer with a Re-Entrant C-Terminal Loop.
PLOS One 2016 May 3;11(5):e0154589. Pubmed / Full Text

Petitjean D., Kalstrup T., Zhao J., Blunck R.
A Disease Mutation Causing Episodic Ataxia Type I in the S1 Links Directly to the Voltage Sensor and the Selectivity Filter in Kv Channels.
J Neurosci 2015 Sep 2;35(35):12198-206. Pubmed / Full Text

Aurrousseau M., McGuire H., Blunck R., Bowie D.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Single-Subunit Counting of Membrane-Bound Proteins in Mammalian Cells.
Neuromethods 2015 Sep 16;106:15-30. Link

Kalstrup T, Blunck R.
Reinitiation at non-canonical start codons leads to leak expression when incorporating unnatural amino acids.
Scientific Reports 2015 Jul 8;5 11866. Pubmed / Full Text

Blunck R.
Investigation of Ion Channel structure using Fluorescence Spectroscopy. in Handbook of Ion Channels
Zheng J., Trudeau M. CRC Press 2015 Feb 25:113-133. Publisher Link

Faure É., Thompson C., Blunck R.
Do lipids show state-dependent affinity to the voltage-gated potassium channel KvAP?
J Biol Chem 2014 Jun 6;289(23):16452-61. Pubmed / Full Text

Kalstrup T, Blunck R.
Dynamics of internal pore opening in K(V) channels probed by a fluorescent unnatural amino acid.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013 May 14;110(20):8272-7. Pubmed / Full Text

Faure É, Starek G, McGuire H, Bernèche S, Blunck R.
A limited 4 Å radial displacement of the S4-S5 linker is sufficient for internal gate closing in Kv channels.
J Biol Chem 2012 Nov 16;287(47):40091-8. Pubmed / Full Text

Blunck R, Batulan Z.
Mechanism of electromechanical coupling in voltage-gated potassium channels.
Front Pharmacol 2012;3:166. Pubmed / Full Text

McGuire H, Aurousseau MR, Bowie D, Blunck R.
Automating single subunit counting of membrane proteins in mammalian cells.
J Biol Chem 2012 Oct 19;287(43):35912-21. Pubmed / Full Text read more ...

Groulx N, McGuire H, Laprade R, Schwartz JL, Blunck R.
Single molecule fluorescence study of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin Cry1Aa reveals tetramerization.
J Biol Chem 2011 Dec 9;286(49):42274-82. Pubmed / Full Text

Wall-Lacelle S, Hossain MI, Sauvé R, Blunck R, Parent L.
Double mutant cycle analysis identified a critical leucine residue in the IIS4S5 linker for the activation of the Ca(V)2.3 calcium channel.
J Biol Chem 2011 Aug 5;286(31):27197-205. Pubmed / Full Text

Haddad GA, Blunck R.
Mode shift of the voltage sensors in Shaker K+ channels is caused by energetic coupling to the pore domain.
J Gen Physiol 2011 May;137(5):455-72. Pubmed / Full Text

Groulx N, Juteau M, Blunck R.
Rapid topology probing using fluorescence spectroscopy in planar lipid bilayer: the pore-forming mechanism of the toxin Cry1Aa of Bacillus thuringiensis.
J Gen Physiol 2010 Nov;136(5):497-513. Pubmed / Full Text

Batulan Z, Haddad GA, Blunck R.
An intersubunit interaction between S4-S5 linker and S6 is responsible for the slow off-gating component in Shaker K+ channels.
J Biol Chem 2010 Apr 30;285(18):14005-19. Pubmed / Full Text

Blunck R, McGuire H, Hyde HC, Bezanilla F.
Fluorescence detection of the movement of single KcsA subunits reveals cooperativity.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008 Dec 23;105(51):20263-8. Pubmed / Full Text

Richardson J, Blunck R, Ge P, Selvin PR, Bezanilla F, Papazian DM, Correa AM.
Distance measurements reveal a common topology of prokaryotic voltage-gated ion channels in the lipid bilayer.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006 Oct 24;103(43):15865-70. Pubmed

Blunck R, Cordero-Morales JF, Cuello LG, Perozo E, Bezanilla F.
Detection of the opening of the bundle crossing in KcsA with fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy reveals the existence of two gates for ion conduction.
J Gen Physiol 2006 Nov;128(5):569-81. Pubmed

Scheel O, Papavlassopoulos M, Blunck R, Gebert A, Hartung T, Zähringer U, Seydel U, Schromm AB.
Cell activation by ligands of the toll-like receptor and interleukin-1 receptor family depends on the function of the large-conductance potassium channel MaxiK in human macrophages.
Infect Immun 2006 Jul;74(7):4354-6. Pubmed

Chanda B, Blunck R, Faria LC, Schweizer FE, Mody I, Bezanilla F.
A hybrid approach to measuring electrical activity in genetically specified neurons.
Nat Neurosci 2005 Nov;8(11):1619-26. Pubmed

Chanda B, Asamoah OK, Blunck R, Roux B, Bezanilla F.
Gating charge displacement in voltage-gated ion channels involves limited transmembrane movement.
Nature 2005 Aug 11;436(7052):852-6. Pubmed

Ries R, Choi H, Blunck R, Bezanilla F and Heath JR.
Black Lipid Membranes: Visualizing the Structure, Dynamics, and Substrate Dependence of Membranes.
J Phys Chem B. 2004 Jul; 108 (41) 16040-16049.

Blunck R, Starace DM, Correa AM, Bezanilla F.
Detecting rearrangements of shaker and NaChBac in real-time with fluorescence spectroscopy in patch-clamped mammalian cells.
Biophys J 2004 Jun;86(6):3966-80. Pubmed

Pantoja R, Nagarah JM, Starace DM, Melosh NA, Blunck R, Bezanilla F, Heath JR.
Silicon chip-based patch-clamp electrodes integrated with PDMS microfluidics.
Biosens Bioelectron 2004 Oct 15;20(3):509-17. Pubmed

Determining the correct stoichiometry of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetramers, functional in multiple stoichiometrical configurations

S4-S5 linker movement during activation and inactivation in voltage-gated K+ channels. (Kalstrup & Blunck, PNAS 2018)

The isolated voltage sensing domain of the Shaker potassium channel forms a voltage-gated cation channel. (Zhao & Blunck, eLife 2016)

Publications