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Susan Brockerhoff
Professor of Biochemistry
Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology
BS 1987, City University of New York
PhD 1993, University of Washington
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Summary
The overall goal of research in our laboratory is to understand the biology of the cone photoreceptor and apply this information to dissecting the molecular basis of human retinal disease.
Photoreceptors are highly specialized sensory cells essential for vision. They convert light information into an electrical signal that is ultimately transmitted to the vision detecting centers of the brain. Although significant information is known about phototransduction and synaptic transmission within photoreceptors, surprisingly little is known about other vital aspects of cell function. Our lab is currently focusing on two fundamental questions in photoreceptor biology: 1) how is photoreceptor mitochondrial function regulated by cellular Ca2+ dynamics? and 2) how is the endocytic trafficking pathway regulated by phosphoinositides? The overall health and viability of photoreceptors depends on the regulation of these processes. We use zebrafish as our model system because they have an abundance of cone photoreceptors and because biological problems can be tackled in zebrafish using many different experimental approaches. We conduct genetic analyses, quantitative microscopy, biochemical assays, and electrophysiology and we have a developed a large collection of tools and reagents for our studies.
Research data from Brockerhoff lab
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