Our fascination is with membrane transport: how do integral membrane proteins control the flow of nutrients, wastes and signaling molecules across the plasma membrane? The laboratory is part of a dynamic group of laboratories at the University of Alberta interested in related membrane biology issues, making for research environment! Our particular area of specialization is the SLC4 family of transporters, some of which transport bicarbonate.

Bicarbonate Transport proteins move bicarbonate (HCO3-) across the plasma membrane of our cells.  This process is essential to control cell levels of the waste product carbon dioxide (CO2) and to regulate the pH (acid level) both inside and outside our cells.  Bicarbonate transport is a simple yet central part of our body's normal functioning.  Disruption of bicarbonate transport underlies many diseases.  (More…)  Our laboratory studies the role of bicarbonate transport in causing disease.  Major projects ongoing in our laboratory include:

1.  Determining the structure and transport mechanism of the chloride/bicarbonate exchanger, AE1, which is central to red  blood cell and kidney function.

2. .  How do defects in the transport protein called SLC4A11 cause the serious eye diseases Fuchs endothelial dystrophy and congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy?

We use a wide range of biochemical, cell biological and physiological approaches in our studies of membrane transport.

July 15, 2015

Mike Chiu successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis today. Way to go, Mike!!

July 13 2015

Going away party for Sampath Loganathan, who will start as a postdoctoral fellow in Daniel Schramek's lab, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto. We're sad to see Sam leave but very happy for his many successes and look forward to following his career!

July 3, 2015

Darpan Malhotra, Ph.D. student in our lab, has been awarded both an AIHS scholarship and a Vanier Scholarship, Canada's most prestigious graduate award.

June 24, 2015

Congratulations to Sampath Loganthan, who successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis. A  new doctor is born!

June 9, 2015

Congratulations Sam! Sampath Loganathan won the Leaders in Biochemistry Award for the best paper publsiehd in the last year by a graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry!

June 1, 2015

Welcome to Andrea Blum, a visiting student from Dr. manfred Schmitt's lab, as part of teh IRTG in Membrane Biology.

May 29, 2015

Farewell to Linda Forero-Quintero, who returns to her lab in Germany!

May 1, 2015

A big day for new arrivals to the lab! Welcome to Manuel Daumann, visiting Ph.D. student from Torsten Mohlman's Lab at Technical University Kaiserslautern, Germany!  Also, two new summer students, Meet Patel and Ali Qadri, arrived today. Good researching everyone!

April 8, 2015

Congratulations to Meet Patel and Ali Qadri who won AIHS summer studentships to work in the Casey lab this summer!

April 1, 2015

Welcome to Stephanie (Linda) Forero-Quintero, who is visiting from Dr. Joachim Deitmer's lab (TU Kaiserslautern Germany) as part of the IRTG in Membrane Biology.

March 24, 2015

We're publishing on coral! Zoccola, D., Ganot, P., Bertucci, A., Caminiti-Segonds, N., Techer, N., Voolstra, C., Aranda, M., Tambutté, E., Allemand, D., Casey, J.R. and Tambutté, S. (2015) Bicarbonate Transporters in a Scleractinian Coral, Scientific Reports, In Press.

March 10, 2015

Best wishes to Sam Loganathan who just got married to Jaya in India!

Jan.  12, 2015

New paper now in press: Vilas, G.L.,Krishnan, D., Loganathan, S., Liu, L., Beggs, M., Gena, P., Calamita, G., Jung, M., Zimmermann, R., Tamma, G., Casey, J.R., and Alexander R.T. (2015) Increased Water flux iduced by an interaction between aquaporin 1 and carbonic anhydrase II Molecular Biology of the Cell, In Press.

Jan. 6, 2015

Welcome back, Sampath!

Oct. 1, 2014

Bon voyage and have fun to Sampath Loganathan. Sampath will spend the next three months in Germany, working on a joint research project with our German partners in the IRTG in Membrane Biology, Drs Holger Becker and Joachim Deitmer.

Sept. 10, 2014

Congratulations to Alka Kumari who just had a review article accepted: Alka, K. and Casey, J.R. Bicarbonate Tranport Proteins in Health and Disease (2014) IUBMB Life, In Press.

June 24 2015 Paul Schnetkamp, University of Calgary

Oct. 9 2014, Mark Parker, SUNY Buffalo

May 9, 2013 Seth Alper, Harvard University

Jan. 24 2013 Bill Cole, University of Calgary

Feb. 29-March 4, 2012 Holger Becker, Technical University Kaiserslautern, Germany

Oct. 5-7, 2011 Nevin Lambert, Georgia Health Sciences University

Nov. 29-30 , 2010  Gergely Lukacs, McGill University

Sept. 15-16, 2010  Itzhak Fishov, Ben Gurion University

Dec. 8, 2009 Jonathan Lytton, University of Calgary

Sept. 16-17, 2008 Snezana Petrovic, University of Cincinnati

May 2008 Bernardo Alvarez, National University  of Argentina, La Plata

January, 2008 Allan Davidson University of Toronto

Nov. 5-6, 2007- Irina Grichtchenko, University of Colorado

Oct. 16-17, 2007- Wayne Chen, University of Calgary

Sept. 2-3 2007- Jacques Pouyessegur, CNRS Nice France

June 20-21 2007- Kang Zhang Eccles Institute, University of Utah.

March 29-30, 2007- Peter Tieleman, University of Calgary