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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Peying Fong, 785-532-4524, pfong@vet.k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

ION CHANNEL EXPERT TO DELIVER CLARENBURG LECTURES AT K-STATE OCT. 27-28

MANHATTAN -- An expert on the role of ion channels in cellular metabolism is coming to Kansas State University Oct. 27-28 as part of this year's Rudolf Clarenburg Lectureship.

Colin Nichols, the Carl Cori Professor in the department of cell biology and physiology at the Washington University School of Medicine, researches the biology of ion channels and their role in linking cellular metabolism to electrical activity in tissues.

Nichols will deliver "The Molecular Basis of Potassium ATP Channel Activity" at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, and "Electrical Signaling: from Molecules to Malaise " at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28. Both lectures will be in the Practice Management Center in Trotter Hall. Both lectures are free and open to the public.

Nichols' most recent work focuses on the function of ion channels in pancreatic cells that secrete insulin and their relationship to diabetes. Ion channels regulate the electrical properties of all living cells and are particularly prominent in the function of the nervous and endocrine systems.

Cellular adenosine triphosphate -- or ATP -- levels determine the activity of a specific sort of potassium channel found in the membranes of pancreatic cells. When cells take up glucose the cell's metabolism is stimulated, internal ATP levels increase and the potassium channels close. This then causes insulin release. Thus, any disruption of this process would compromise insulin release. Nichols' work in this arena is contributing to the fundamental understanding of diabetes.

Nichols has bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and physiology, and a doctorate in physiology, all from Leeds University in England. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of physiology at the University of Maryland and joined the Washington University School of Medicine faculty in 1991. Much of his work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association.

The Rudolph Clarenburg Lectureship was established in 1996 to honor the late Rudolf Clarenburg, a longtime professor of physiology at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine. Its goal is to bring nationally and internationally recognized scientists to K-State to discuss their research interests with faculty and students.