Oliver Ernst

Cell membranes are natural borders for signal transduction between cells and their environment. Different strategies to enable signals to cross the membrane barrier employ protein classes such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), ion channels, and transporters. Our research is directed at understanding transmembrane signaling by GPCRs. We investigate the inner workings of these proteins and their interaction with signaling proteins like G proteins and arrestins. Using cryo-EM, x-ray crystallography, and various spectroscopic techniques, including electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), we aim to gain insight into the mechanism, specificity, and structural basis of these interactions. A focus of our work is on rhodopsin, a GPCR model system and the photoreceptor protein in the vertebrate retina. Understanding how GPCRs work on a molecular level will help us to comprehend their role in health and disease.

Channelrhodopsins are microbial rhodopsins that act as light-gated ion channels and are used for optogenetic activation or silencing of mammalian neurons. Using cryo-EM, we study their mechanism of channel gating and ion selectivity. Other microbial rhodopsins work as ion pumps, which we also study by x-ray crystallography and EPR.

Additionally, we are interested in the localization of proteasomes, their structure and function in response to metabolic changes, and their potential role in liquid-liquid phase separation.

Pub Med Link: Oliver Ernst. 

Courses Taught

BCH374Y1 Research Project in Biochemistry
BCH473Y Advanced Research Project in Biochemistry
BCH422H Membrane Proteins: Structure and Function
MMG1313H Membrane Proteomics in Biomedical Research

Awards

2020 — Konrad Adenauer Research Award (Humboldt Research Award Programme)
2011-2017 — Canada Excellence Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology  
2011-2024 — Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair in Neuroscience at University of Toronto