FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APS Contact
Christine Guilfoy
Office: (301) 634-7253
cguilfoy@the-aps.org
Newsroom Opens at 12:00 p.m.
Saturday April 28
APS Newsroom
East Registration Area
Washington Convention Center
APS Press Room: (202) 249-4174
University Of Texas Researcher Earns APS
Bowditch Award
James
D. Stockand to deliver Henry Pickering Bowditch Lecture Research
aimed at understanding hypertension
WASHINGTON – Epithelial sodium channels (ENaC) are
hardly household words, but if these channels are not working right, the
serious condition of high blood pressure (hypertension) may result, putting
the sufferer at risk for heart disease,
stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney disease.
Approximately 30% of the U.S. adult population suffers
from hypertension, but about one-third of them don’t even know it, according
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC listed
the disease as a primary or contributing cause of death for 277,000
Americans in 2002.
James D. Stockand, a researcher at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, studies epithelial sodium
channels in the cells of the kidney, lungs and colon. His research may lead
to a better understanding of how these cells regulate salt and could one day
be used to control hypertension.
“It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but this research
will allow people doing translational research to better the treatment
methods for hypertension,” Dr. Stockand said. The American Physiological
Society has awarded Stockand the 2007 Henry Pickering Bowditch
Memorial Award for early-career achievement. The award goes to a scientist
younger than 42 years whose accomplishments are both original and
outstanding. It is the Society’s second-highest award.
Dr. Stockand, an associate professor at his university,
will present the Bowditch lecture “New insight into the regulation of ENaC
by small G proteins and phosphatidylinositides,” at 5:45 p.m., Sunday,
April 29, at the APS session of Experimental Biology 2007
in Ballroom B the Washington Convention Center. The APS plans an
entire track on ion channels, underlining the importance of this area of
research.
Cellular function and salt
Cells are dynamic units which allow in nutrients while
barring unwanted substances. Cells achieve this dynamic activity in part
through various ion channels. Ion channels, first discovered about 50 years
ago, are microscopic gates comprised of proteins on the cell membrane which
control what enters and leaves. Some ion channels regulate water, while
others regulate potassium, and so on.
Because they regulate what gets into cells, they are
also the favorite target of toxins, for example from venomous snakes. They
are also the favorite target of drugs developed to fight disease.
Epithelial sodium channels, which regulate sodium into
and out of the cell, were first described in 1991. If sodium channels are
too active, more salt gains entry to the cells, ultimately causing an
increase in blood pressure. On the other hand, if the channels are not
active enough, it can lead to salt wasting and hypotension, or abnormally
low blood pressure.
A career in research
From the time he was a child, Stockand wanted to know
how things work, often taking things apart to figure them out. His road to a
career in biology began, ironically enough, when his high school biology
teacher tired of his mischievous behavior. She removed him from the class
and assigned him an independent research project to work on instead
He loved doing the independent project and headed to a
career in research. Dr. Stockand attended Texas A&M as an undergrad, did his
graduate work at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
and his postdoctoral work in physiology and biophysics at Emory University.
Stockand has developed new biophysical approaches to
research sodium channels and has made advances in the use of fluorescent
microscopy to aid in this research. His laboratory is equipped to perform
real-time measurement of ion channel activity.
Ion channel research is playing a major role in APS-sponsored
sessions at Experimental Biology this year. At 5:45 p.m., Saturday, April
28, Frances Mary Ashcroft of the University of Oxford will present the
Walter B. Cannon lecture “ATP-sensitive potassium channels and disease: From
molecule to malady. The Walter B. Cannon Award is the Society’s highest
award, given to an outstanding physiological scientist selected by the
Society’s president elect.
To
schedule an interview with Dr. Stockand, please e-mail
Christine Guilfoy or call her at (301) 634-7253, prior to April 28.
During the conference, please call the APS press room at (202) 249-4174.
Please
click here for the APS program at Experimental Biology 2007.
Physiology
is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create
health or disease. The American Physiological Society has been an
integral part of this scientific discovery process since it was established
in 1887.
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