Dr. Zoita Andronache

My research is focused on the first mouse model for skeletal muscle disease Malignant Hyperthermia (MH) and Central Core Disease (CCD), characterizing the alterations of voltage controlled calcium fluxes in isolated skeletal muscle fibers. I use two high standard methods, an electrophysiological technique (two-electrode voltage clamping) and real time fluorometric recording of rapid changes in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. I also gain experience with confocal Ca2+ imaging in isolated muscle fibers.

Project: ”Voltage-gated Calcium Fluxes Studied in Skeletal Muscle Fibers of Genetically Engineered Mice”. I studied two interesting mice models genetically altered in key proteins for excitation-contraction coupling. In the first project I studied the effects of the genetic knock-out of the Dihydropyridine (DHP) receptor subunit 1. In the second project I studied the functional consequences of a murine genetic knock-in of the RyR1 mutation Y522S that causes the susceptibility for MH and (CCD) in humans.