Roger Tsien Professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry & Biochemistry Phone: 858-534-4891 Fax: 858-534-5270 E-mail: rtsien@ucsd.edu Lab Website

Key Words: Signal Transduction; Calcium; Neurobiology

Engineering and use of new molecules to measure and perturb these messengers. Cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, especially in cerebellum. Stimulus- transcription coupling via cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Mechanism of Ca²⁺ influx stimulated by emptying of endoplasmic reticulum stores. Structure-function relationships in Green Fluorescent Protein, and its application to monitor protein-protein interactions by fluorescence resonance energy transfer.

Recent Publications

Zlokarnik, G., Negulescu, P.A., Knapp, T.E., Mere, L., Burres, N., Feng, L., Whitney, M., Roemer, K., and Tsien, R.Y. 1998. Quantitation of transcription and clonal selection of single living cells using beta-lactamase as reporter. Science 279: 84-88.

Li, W., Llopis, J., Whitney, M., Zlokarnik, G., and Tsien, R.Y. 1998. Cell-permeant caged InsP3 ester shows that Ca2+ spike frequency can optimize gene expression. Nature 392: 936-941.

Griffin, B.A., Adams, S.R., and Tsien, R.Y. 1998. Specific covalent labeling of recombinant protein molecules inside live cells. Science 281: 269-272.

Miyawaki, A., Griesbeck, O., Heim, R., and Tsien, R.Y. 1999. Dynamic and quantitative Ca2+ measurements using improved cameleons. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96: 2135-2140.

Yao, Y., Ferrer-Montiel, A.V., Montal, M., and Tsien, R.Y. 1999. Activation of store-operated Ca2+ current in xenopus oocytes requires SNAP-25 but not a diffusible messenger. Cell, in press, August 20.