Dr. Andreas LIEB
Institute of Pharmacology
Medical University of Innsbruck
Peter-Mayr-Straße 1a  
A-6020 Innbruck
Website Andreas Lieb

Program

"Investigating and modulating GPCRs, from basic research to gene therapy"

GPCRs comprise the largest membrane receptor family and more than 30% of FDA approved drugs target GPCRs. Although decades of research focused on GPCRs, their downstream signaling following agonist activation is still poorly understood. Here we take advantage of a) selective drugs activating subfamily members of GPCRs, b) information based mutagenesis, and c) recently developed designer receptors, which do not respond to internal ligands but can be activated by external compound application (Designer Receptor Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs, DREADD), to decipher GPCR function. Existing GPCR based designer receptor technologies, like the DREADD, currently undergo extensive preclinical investigation, however, their clinical translation is limited. Our obtained insights allow us to further develop GPCR based designer receptors, with the aim to provide safer, more efficient gene therapy options.

Host: Thomas Steinkellner

Contact for questions: Helmut KUBISTA