Research in the Jansen laboratory focuses on structure and function studies of diverse membrane proteins, specifically, ligand-gated ion channels and transporters.

The major focus are neurotransmitter receptors. The lab’s research thus directly relates to neuroscience and also pharmacology.

The Jansen lab applies techniques out of the areas of molecular biology (genetic engineering), biochemistry, chemical biology, and biophysics (electrophysiology, spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography)  to study these proteins at a molecular level.

The lab is especially interested in the superfamily of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGIC) that includes the nACh, GABA, 5HT3, and Gly families. The pLGICs function mainly as neurotransmitter receptors, transforming the chemical signal contained in the neurotransmitter into an electrical signal.

Source: https://www.ttuhsc.edu/som/physiology/faculty/jansen/jansen.aspx