Education:

Positions Held:

Membership

Biophysical Society
The Korean Physiological Society
The Korean Biophysical Society
The Korean Society for Smooth Muscle Research

Research Interests:

- Physiology and biophysics of ion transporters and channels
- Intracellular Ca2+ signaling

The goal of my work is to study the function and regulation of membrane ion transporters and channels. Progress in understanding the function of ion transporter lags behind progress for ion channels, since the ion transporter function is intrinsically much more complex than ion channels. Although voltage clamp methods allow detailed analysis of ion channel function and biophysical properties, the achievement of comparable functional studies for ion transporters is enormously challenging. General problems encountered with ion transporter study are that ion concentration change during measurement cannot be controlled, time resolution is usually quite limited, and control of membrane potential in the presence of ion fluxes is often very limited. With this perspective, I have been developed new technical strategy in which the ion-selective microelectrodes (K+-, Na+-, Ca2+-, H+-electrodes) are placed either side of the excised giant membrane patches (inside-out patches) from the heart cells. With this method, we can measure ion fluxes mediated by several transport systems with accuracy (Kang TM et al, J Gen Physiol, 121:325-347, 2003), and re-evaluate the ion exchange ratio of the Na/Ca exchanger of the heart (Kang & Hilgemann, Nature, 427(6974):544-548, 2004). The long-term goal is to study the function and regulation of electroneutral transporters including Na/H exchanger, Na-K-2Cl transporter, and even glucose, gas and water transport. Giant patch clamp technique and a wide range of cell types (heart cells, epithelial cells, and specific gene-expressing mammalian cells) are employed to the goal. Current research projects include (1) regulation of cardiac Na/Ca exchanger function by the operation of multiple transport modes of the exchanger, (2) regulation of cardiac ion transporters and channels by a membrane phospholipid (PIP2), (3) crystal structure of Na/H exchanger, (4) development of new pain killer compounds with collaboration of a pharmaceutical company.

Publications:

1. Feng S, Yang J, Kang TM, Dong P, Yaradanakul A, Hill JA, Albanesi JP, Hilgemann DW. Dual control of cardiac Na/Ca exchange by PIP2. Circ Res. (in press)
2. Kang TM, Hilgemann DW. Multiple transport modes of the cardiac Na/Ca exchanger. Nature 427(6974):544-548, 2004
3. Kang TM, Markin V, Hilgemann DW. Ion fluxes in giant excised cardiac membrane patches detected and quantified with ion-selective microelectrodes. J Gen Physiol121:325-347,2003
4. Kang TM, Park MK, Uhm DY. Effects of hypoxia and mitochondrial inhibition on the capacitative calcium entry in rabbit pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell. Life Sci.
5. So I, Yang DK, Kim HJ, Min KW, Kang TM, Kim SJ, Kim KW, Park KH, Jeon JH, Choi KH, Kim IG. Five subtypes of muscarinic receptors are expressed in gastric smooth muscles of guinea pig. Exp Mol Med. 35(1):46-52, 2003
6. Kang TM, Steciuk M, Hilgemann DW. Sodium-calcium exchange stoichiometry: Is the Noose tightening? Ann NY Acd Sci 976:142-151, 2002
7. Kang TM, Park MK, Uhm DY. Characterization of hypoxia-induced [Ca2+]i rise in rabbit pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells. Life Sci. 70(19):2321-2333. 2002
8. Sim JH, Yang DK, Kim YC, Park SJ, Kang TM, So I, Kim KW. ATP-sensitive K+ channels composed of Kir6.1 and SUR2B subunits in guinea pig gastric myocytes. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 282(1):G137-44, 2002
9. Lee SW, Kang TM. Effects of nitric oxide on the Ca2+-activated potassium channels in smooth muscle cells of the human corpus cavernosum. Urol Res 29(5):359-65, 2001
10. La J, Kim T, Sung T, Kang T, Lee J, Yang I. Involvement of nitric oxide and vasoactive intestinal peptide in the nonadrenergic-noncholinergic relaxation of the porcine retractor penis muscle. Jpn J Pharmacol. 86(2):236-43, 2001
11. Kang TM, Kim YC, Sim JH, Rhee JC, Kim SJ, Uhm DY, So I, Kim KW. The properties of carbachol-activated nonselective cation channels at the single channel level in guinea pig gastric myocytes. Jpn J Pharmacol. 85(3):291-8, 2001
12. Kim CH, Rhee PL, Rhee JC, Kim YI, So I, Kim KW, Park MK, Uhm DY, Kang TM. Hypotonic swelling increases L-type calcium current in smooth muscle cells of the human stomach. Exp Physiol. 85(5):497-504, 2000
13. Rhee JC, Rhee PL, Park MK, So I, Uhm DY, Kim KW, Kang TM. Muscarinic receptors controlling the carbachol-activated nonselective cationic current in guinea pig gastric smooth muscle cells. Jpn J Pharmacol. 82(4):331-7, 2000
14. Park MK, Kang TM, Uhm DY, Lee SJ, Lee SH, Ho WK, Earm YE. Different contractile properties between intralobar and extralobar pulmonary arteries of the rabbit. J Smooth Muscle Res. 35(1):1-10, 1999
15. Kim SJ, Koh EM, Kang TM, Kim YC, So I, Isenberg G, Kim KW. Ca2+ influx through carbachol-activated non-selective cation channels in guinea-pig gastric myocytes. J Physiol (Lond). 513:749-60, 1998
16. Kim YC, Kim SJ, Sim JH, Jun JY, Kang TM, Suh SH, So I, Kim KW. Protein kinase C mediates the desensitization of CCh-activated nonselective cationic current in guinea-pig gastric myocytes. Pflugers Arch. 436(1):1-8, 1998
17. Xu WX, Kim SJ, So I, Kang TM, Rhee JC, Kim KW. Volume-sensitive chloride current activated by hyposmotic swelling in antral gastric myocytes of the guinea-pig. Pflugers Arch. 435(1):9-19, 1997
18. Kim YC, Kim SJ, Kang TM, Suh SH, So I, Kim KW. Effects of myosin light chain kinase inhibitors on carbachol-activated nonselective cationic current in guinea-pig gastric myocytes. Pflugers Arch. 434(4):346-53, 1997
19. Xu WX, Kim SJ, Kim SJ, So I, Kang TM, Rhee JC, Kim KW. Effect of stretch on calcium channel currents recorded from the antral circular myocytes of guinea-pig stomach. Pflugers Arch. 432(2):159-64, 1996
20. Ahn SC, Xu WX, So I, Kim KW, Kang TM. Effects of purinergic agonists on mechanical and electrical activities of gastric smooth muscle of guinea-pig. J Smooth Muscle Res. 31(6):407-10, 1995
21. Kang TM, Rhee PL, Rhee JC, So I, Kim KW. Intracellular Ca2+ oscillations in vascular smooth muscle cells. J Smooth Muscle Res. 31(6):390-4, 1995
22. Kang TM, So I, Kim KW. Caffeine- and histamine-induced oscillations of K(Ca) current in single smooth muscle cells of rabbit cerebral artery. Pflugers Arch. 431(1):91-100, 1995