Understanding the Human Body's Most Reliable Messenger
The numbers are staggering. In 2003, approximately 139,000 Canadians were diagnosed with cancer, 14,000 were diagnosed with epilepsy, and heart disease cost the Canadian economy $18 billion per year. But aside from the devastation they cause, these diseases have something else in common: In each of them, as in countless others, calcium plays in an important role. Calcium regulates and controls numerous cellular processes. Beginning in early development and continuing through to adulthood, calcium is the messenger that carries signals vital for human development. The fertilization of human eggs, for instance, requires a calcium signal within the cell, which ultimately influences its fate. Any misstep in cell signalling can cause cell growth to go awry and cancer to develop. Because calcium is vital to all aspects of health and disease, it is imperative that its functions be examined and understood. As the Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology, Dr. Mitsuhiko Ikura researches how calcium functions as a cellular messenger in the body. His lab uses NMR, X-ray, and imaging technologies as well as multidisciplinary techniques to obtain information about the shapes and locations of the molecules involved in calcium signalling. Dr. Ikura is confident that his research program will provide clues into how calcium impacts cardiovascular function, and vital information about what therapeutic treatments may be helpful in restoring normal heart function. Insights into the causes of epilepsy and cancer will also be gained through Dr. Ikura's investigations of cellular signalling. Moreover, his research has the potential to aid in the design of drugs to treat these diseases.