Montserrat Samso, assistant professor in the department of physiology at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to generate a crystal structure of the ryanodine receptor (RyR1), an intracellular calcium channel, at high resolution and in different conformational states, with and without disease-causing mutations, to allow a better understanding of its function and role in central core disease (CCD). Samso aims to increase the basic understanding of a receptor critical for normal muscle function and provide the basis for rational structure-based design of small molecules aimed at counteracting the CCD-causing mutations that destabilize it.

Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.