Welcome to the Smrcka Lab

Our laboratory studies mechanisms for cellular communication via G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).  The GPCR superfamily includes receptors for adrenaline, serotonin, acetylcholine taste molecules, smell, and even light!  They are the largest family of cell surface receptors and 30-40% of marketed drugs target GPCRs.  Our laboratory uses a wide variety of methods to study the involvement of these receptors in physiology and disease.  We provide a dynamic environment where trainees can gain experience in a wide repertoire of methods applied to important biological problems. Learn more »

THE LATEST:

April 2019: Tyler successfully passed his qualifying exam.  Congratulations!

November 2018: Adrian’s paper “Targeting GPCR signaling by blocking G proteins” was published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.

September 2018: Rafael Gil de Rubio’s paper “Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate is a major source of GPCR-stimulated phosphoinositide production” was published in Science Signaling.

July 2018: Wenhui Wei successfully defended her Masters Thesis in Pharmacology.

July 2018: Naincy Chandan received a Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Entrepeneurship from the UM Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.

July 2018: Naincy Chandan was awarded the “Benedict and Diana Lucchesi Lucchesi Pre-doctoral Fellowship” in the UM Department of Pharmacology.

June 2018:  Craig Nash’s paper “Compartmentalized cyclic nucleotides have opposing effects on regulation of hypertrophic phospholipase Cε signaling in cardiac myocytes” was published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.