The Feske lab investigates how ion channels and transporters (ICTs) regulate immune function at the molecular and cellular levels, and to determine their roles in immunity in health and disease.
ICTs are well established regulators of cells in the kidney, heart or brain and are the target of hundreds of FDA approved drugs for cardiovascular, neurological, and other disorders. In immunology, by contrast, ICTs are largely unexplored resulting in a large gap in basic knowledge but also vast drug discovery opportunities. Several ICTs have already been shown to be essential modulators of immune cell function and represent tunable checkpoints to either enhance immunity to infection and tumors or to suppress autoimmunity. Understanding how they control immune function is essential to develop ICT-targeted therapies for immunological diseases.
Our laboratory investigates ICTs as critical regulators of lymphocyte biology and immune function. Building on our landmark discovery of ORAI1 as the gene encoding the CRAC calcium channel — and the identification of CRAC channelopathy as a novel inborn error of immunity — we continue to uncover and characterize previously unknown ICTs governing T and B cell activity. Our research explores how ions, metabolites, and immune mediators shape immune responses in health and disease, with particular focus on conditions including autoimmunity, inflammation, and immunodeficiency. By elucidating the molecular and immunological mechanisms through which ICTs regulate immune cell growth, differentiation, and gene expression, we aim to establish the scientific foundation for an entirely new class of targeted immunomodulatory therapies.