1974 B.S., University at Albany, Biology
1977 Ph.D., University at Albany, Biology
1977-80 Amer. Cancer Soc. Postdoctoral Fellow, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Chemistry

The Role of Mitochondrial Channels in Programmed Cell Death;
Molecular Studies of Two Mitochondrial Ion Channels Involved in Protein Import
This laboratory is examining the translocation of proteins across membranes. One project focuses on the fundamental mechanisms of protein import into mitochondria using electrophysiological techniques. The role of mitochondrial channels in programmed cell death is examined with a variety of additional techniques including microinjection and microsurgery of single cells, time-lapse video microscopy (fluorescence and phase), and flow cytometry. Understanding the cell death process will facilitate development of therapies that enable activation of this cascade to control the growth of malignancies and blockade of the pathway to reduce the volume of cell death after ischemic injury, e.g., stroke or heart attack.

National Institutes of Health

Dejean LM, Martinez-Caballero S, Guo L, Hughes C, Teijido O, Ducret T, Ichas F, Korsmeyer SJ, Antonsson B, Jonas EA, Kinnally KW. (2005) Oligomeric Bax Is a Component of the Putative Cytochrome c Release Channel MAC, Mitochondrial Apoptosis-induced Channel. Mol Biol Cell 16:2424-2432.

Martinez-Caballero, S., Dejean, L.M., Jonas, E.A., and Kinnally, K.W. (2005) The role of the mitochondrial apoptosis induced channel MAC in cytochrome c release.  J  Bioenerg. Biomembr., 37(3):155-64.

Frank, D.K., Szymkowiak, B., Josifovska-Chopra, O., Nakashima, T., Kinnally, K.W. (2005) Single-cell microinjection of cytochrome c resulting in gap junction-mediated apoptotic cell death of bystander cells in head and neck cancer.  J. Head and Neck, 27(9):794-800

Chinopoulos, C., Starkov, A. A., Grigoriev, S., Dejean, L. M., Kinnally, K. W., Liu, X., Ambudkar, I. S. and Fiskum, G. (2005) Diacylglycerols Activate Mitochondrial Cationic Channel(s) and Release Sequestered Ca²⁺.  J  Bioenerg. Biomembr., 37(4):237-47.

Pavlov, E., Grigoriev, S.M., Dejean, L.M., Zweihorn, C.L., Mannella, C. A. and Kinnally, K. W. (2005) The mitochondrial channel VDAC has a cation-selective open state. Biochim. Biophysica Acta Bioeng.1710, 96-102.

Dejean, L.M., Martinez-Caballero, S., Manon, S., and Kinnally, K.W. (2006) Regulation of the mitochondrial apoptosis induced channel MAC by Bcl-2 family proteins.  Biochim. Biophysica Acta, 1762:191-201.

Dejean, L.M., Martinez-Caballero, S., and Kinnally, K.W. (2006) Is MAC the knife that cuts cytochrome c from mitochondria during apoptosis? Cell Death and Differentiation, 13:1387-95.

Kinnally, K.W., Martinez-Caballero, S., and Dejean, L.M. (2006) Detection of MAC, the Mitochondrial Apoptosis-induced Channel, and its regulation by BCL-2 family proteins. Current Protocols in Toxicology, 2:1-34.

Martinez-Caballero, S., Grigoriev, S.M., Herrmann, J.M., Campo, M.L., and Kinnally, K.W. (2007) Tim17p regulates the twin-pore structure and voltage gating of the mitochondrial protein import complex TIM23 J. Biol. Chem. 282:3584-3593.

Martinez-Caballero, S. Peixoto, PMV., Kinnally^, K.W., Campo, M.L.  (2007) A fluorescence assay for peptide translocation into mitochondria, Analytical Biochem., 362:76-82.

Das, S., Nwachukwu, J.C., Li, D., Vulin, A.I., Martinez-Caballero, S., Kinnally, K.W., and Samuels, H.H. (2007) The NRIF3 Transcriptional Coregulator Mediates Rapid Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells through Direct and Bystander Mediated Events, Cancer Res. 67:1775-82.

Kinnally, K.W. and Antonsson, B. (2007) A tale of two mitochondrial channels, MAC and PTP, in apoptosis. Apoptosis 12:857-68.

Mannella, C.A. and Kinnally, K.W. (2008) Reflections on VDAC as a voltage-gated channel and a mitochondrial regulator. J. Bioenerg. Biomembr, in press.