Federal Grant Award Summary

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey received a $392,500 Project Grant award, effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2031, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859). This award funds research aimed at identifying and developing novel modulators of potassium (K+) ion channels through structure-function analysis. The research program combines multiple experimental methodologies—including patch clamp electrophysiology, molecular biology, protein engineering, genetic screening, and computational structural biology—to study three distinct K+ channel families: KATP channels containing the SUR2 subunit, KIR2.1 channels, and the mechanosensitive TREK subfamily of K2P channels.

The primary deliverables include development of engineered split-SUR2 subunits to restore KATP channel function in vivo for potential gene therapy applications, identification of rescue mutations to compensate for disease-causing variants in KIR2.1 channels, and characterization of drug binding sites and structural features in K2P channels. These research outputs are intended to generate new insights into channel assembly mechanisms and to establish clinically applicable gene therapy technologies for treating orphan potassium channelopathies, while also revealing the pharmacological and functional characteristics conferred by K2P channel structural features. The work will be conducted at Rutgers' facility in Piscataway, New Jersey.