Jean-Pierre Vilardaga, PhD

Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology
Laboratory for GPCR Biology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Research Interests

My lab identifies molecular, structural, and cellular components in cell signaling of GPCRs such as the PTH receptor (PTHR) and the Calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) that explain their multifaceted functions in the kidney, bone, and parathyroid glands. These permit a new level of structural understanding of the GPCR regulation of calcium homeostasis and identification of novel small molecules with potential therapeutic utility for the treatment of bone and mineral ion diseases.

Technique Expertise or Resources to share

Fluorescence confocal microscopes with spectral detectors for FRET and TIRF; a photometric system for high-speed FRET recording; Mithras (Berthold technology) microplate reader for BRET, FRET, luminescence; protein purification platform; access to ITC, Biacore and other equipment in the Department of Structural Biology for quantitative analysis of protein-ligand interactions and electron microscopy, including cryo-EM studies.

Keywords

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor, PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) structural dynamics, endosome, cAMP, β-arrestins, G proteins, signal transduction, endosomal membrane, environmental sensing, structure-function, membrane lipid, bone and mineral disease, parathyroid glands