Tom Claydon

Career Achievements: Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award; Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada New Investigator

Research Interests: Biophysics, physiology, and ion channels. In our research, we aim to better understand the dynamic structural behaviours that underlie the gating of cardiac potassium ion channel proteins. We are interested in how ion channel protein structure dictates function and how this function is controlled by physiology and altered by cardiovascular pathophysiology, pharmacological agents and channelopathies. We use fluorescence-based electrophysiology approaches to provide novel and innovative ways to study ion channel behaviour and the relationship between ion channel dynamic structure and its function.

Recent Publications

Y.M. Cheng, C.M. Hull, C. Niven, J. Qi, C.R. Allard, T.W. Claydon (2013). Functional interactions of voltage sensor charges with an S2 hydrophobic plug in hERG channels. Submitted to Journal of General Physiology, March 2013.

A.C. Van Slyke, Y.M. Cheng, P. Mafi, C.R. Allard, T.W. Claydon (2012). Proton block of the pore underlies the inhibition of hERG cardiac K+ channels during acidosis. American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology 302:C1797-806.

Y.M. Cheng, J. Azer, C.M. Niven, P. Mafi, C.R. Allard, T.W. Claydon (2011). Molecular determinants of U-type inactivation in Kv2.1 channels. Biophysical Journal 101, 651-61.

A.C. Van Slyke, S. Rezazadeh, M. Snopkowski, P. Shi, C.R. Allard, T.W. Claydon (2010). Mutations within the S4-S5 linker alter voltage sensor constraints in hERG K+ channels. Biophysical Journal 99, 1-12.

D.K. Jones, C.H. Peters, C.R. Allard, T.W. Claydon, P.C. Ruben (2013). Proton sensors in the pore domain of the cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel. Journal of Biological Chemistry 288, 4782-4791.