S. Brohawn

Mechanisms of intracellular pH gating and local anesthetic inhibition of the two-pore domain K+ channel TASK-2.

TWIK-related acid-sensitive K+ channel 2 (TASK-2) is a pH sensing two-pore K+ (K2P) channel that regulates respiration in brainstem neurons and systemic pH homeostasis in kidney. Despite its physiological importance and implication in disease, the molecular basis for intracellular gating and pharmacological inhibition...

VIPR RNA-guided DNA recognition by noncontiguous geometric triplex formation.

A noncontiguous code for RNA-guided DNA recognition at the origin of CRISPR-Cas.

The discovery of Viral Interference Programmable Repeat systems consisting of a Vipr protein ancestral to the earliest CRISPR-Cas effectors and VIPR RNAs (vrRNAs) comprising alternating GGY/NN motifs suggests that adaptive immunity originated from ancient warfare between viruses.