Overview

The goal of the Rohacs laboratory is to understand the mechanism of the regulation of
somatosensory ion channels
activated by thermal and mechanical stimuli. We study them at the molecular, cellular and organism
level. Our goal is to
further the understanding of the fascinating biology of somatosensation, which we believe will
ultimately lead to the
development of better pain medications with fewer, and less severe side effects.

For more details, please visit the Rohacs labs website at https://rohacslab.org

Education

Ph.D., 1997, Semmelweis University of Medicine Budapest
M.D., 1992, Semmelweis University of Medicine Budapest

Curriculum Vitae

View CV

Relevant Publications

Zhao, S., Yudin, Y., and Rohacs, T. (2020). Disease-associated mutations in the human TRPM3 render the channel overactive via two distinct mechanisms. eLife 9, e55634.

Del Rosario, J.S., Yudin, Y., Su, S., Hartle, C.M., Mirshahi, T., and Rohacs, T. (2020). Gi-coupled receptor activation potentiates Piezo2 currents via Gbetagamma. EMBO Rep 21, e49124.

Hughes, T. E.*, Del Rosario, J. S.*, Kapoor, A.*, Yazici, A. T., Yudin, Y., Fluck, E. C., Filizola, M.#, Rohacs, T.#, and Moiseenkova-Bell, V. Y.# (2019) Structure-based characterization of novel TRPV5 inhibitors. eLife (2019) 8 pii: e49572 *contributed equally #co-corresponding authors

Yudin Y, Rohacs T. The G protein-biased agents PZM21 and TRV130 are partial agonists of mu-opioid receptor-mediated signaling to ion channels. Br J Pharmacol. (2019) 176(17):3110-3125

Hughes, T.E.T., Pumroy, R.A., Yazici, A.T., Kasimova, M.A., Fluck, E.C., Huynh, K.W., Samanta, A., Mulugu, S.K., Zhou, Z.H., Carnevale, V., Rohacs,T., Moiseenkova-Bell,V.Y.: Structural insights on TRPV5 gating by endogenous modulators, Nature Communications, (2018) 9(1):4198

Hughes, T.E.T., Lodowski, D.T., Huynh, K.W., Yazici, A., Del Rosario, J., Kapoor, A., Basak, S., Samanta, A., Han, X., Chakrapani, S., Zhou, Z.H., Filizola, M., Rohacs, T., Han, S., and Moiseenkova-Bell, V.Y. (2018). Structural basis of TRPV5 channel inhibition by econazole revealed by cryo-EM. Nat Struct Mol Biol 25, 53-60.

Badheka, D., Yudin, Y., Borbiro, I., Hartle, C.M., Yazici, A., Mirshahi, T., Rohacs, T.: Inhibition of Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 3 ion channels by G-protein beta-gamma subunits, eLife 2017, 6. pii: e26147

Carnevale V, Rohacs T. TRPV1: A Target for Rational Drug Design. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2016 Aug 23;9(3)

Elokely, K., Velisetty, P., Delemotte, L., Palovcak., E, Klein, M.L., Rohacs, T., Carnevale. V. Understanding TRPV1 activation by ligands: Insights from the binding modes of capsaicin and resiniferatoxin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016; 113(2):E137-45

Borbiro, I., Badheka, D., Rohacs, T.: Activation of TRPV1 inhibits piezo channels via phosphoinositide depletion, Science Signaling, 2015, 8, ra15

Course List

PHPY5005Q		Fund of Human Physiology
CBNP5036Q		Mol Phys of Cell Comm
EDUC6104K		Renal System

Somatosensory touch is the least understood of the five senses at the molecular level. Due to the large receptor surface
i.e. skin, mucous membranes, bone, etc, direct study of the molecular sensors initiating the detection of mechanical or
thermal stimuli has been difficult. Most of our knowledge originates from studying the cell bodies of the primary sensory
Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) and Trigeminal (TG) neurons. Many of the primary sensors identified by today belong to the
Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of ion channels; their roles are best established in thermosensation. Piezo
channels are the best characterized mammalian mechansensitive ion channels. There are likely to be other, not yet
identified primary sensory ion channels. We study both TRP and Piezo channels using electrophysiology, fluorescence
imaging, animal behavior, molecular biology and computational modeling.

For more information, please visit the Rohacs lab website at https://rohacslab.org