The main interest of the lab is Excitation-Contraction Coupling and Calcium Regulation in Skeletal Muscle. The focus is to understand the mechanisms that (i) control calcium release during activity in muscle, and (ii) maintain calcium homeostasis in skeletal muscle fibres. Within this broad focus, the roles of ion channels, pumps and membrane lipid composition in skeletal muscle physiology are studied. Significant emphasis is given to how properties of the muscle change in disease and other stressed states. To unravel the physiological mechanisms that control skeletal muscle activity, imaging of muscle cell structures and calcium movements are performed.

Cully, Tanya R., Edwards, Joshua N. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2014) Activation and propagation of Ca2+ release from inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum network of mammalian skeletal muscle. Journal of Physiology, 592 17: 3727-3746. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2014.274274 Jayasinghe, Isuru D., Munro, Michelle, Baddeley, David, Launikonis, Bradley S. and Soeller, Christian (2014) Observation of the molecular organization of calcium release sites in fast- and slowtwitch skeletal muscle with nanoscale imaging. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11 99: . doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.0570 Jayasinghe, Isuru D. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2013) Three-dimensional reconstruction and analysis of the tubular system of vertebrate skeletal muscle. Journal of Cell Science, 126 17: 4048-4058. doi:10.1242/jcs.131565 Jayasinghe, Isuru D., Lo, Harriet P., Morgan, Garry P., Baddeley, David, Parton, Robert G., Soeller, Christian and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2013) Examination of the subsarcolemmal tubular system of mammalian skeletal muscle fibers. Biophysical Journal, 104 11: L19-L21. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2013.04.029 Cully, Tanya R. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2013) Store-operated Ca2+ entry is not required for store refilling in skeletal muscle. Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, 40 5: 338-344. doi:10.1111/1440-1681.12078 Cully, Tanya R., Edwards, Joshua N., Friedrich, Oliver, Stephenson, D. George, Murphy, Robyn M. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2012) Changes in plasma membrane Ca-ATPase and stromal interacting molecule 1 expression levels for Ca2+ signaling in dystrophic mdx mouse muscle.. American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology, 303 5: C567-C576. doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00144.2012 Edwards, Joshua N., Cully, Tanya R., Shannon, Thomas R., Stephenson, D. George and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2012) Longitudinal and transversal propagation of excitation along the tubular system of rat fast-twitch muscle fibres studied by high speed confocal microscopy. Journal of Physiology, 590 3: 475-491. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221796 Edwards, Joshua N., Blackmore, Daniel G., Gilbert, Daniel F., Murphy, Robyn M. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2011) Store-operated calcium entry remains fully functional in aged mouse skeletal muscle despite a decline in STIM1 protein expression. Aging Cell, 10 4: 675-685. doi:10.1111/j.1474-9726.2011.00706.x Launikonis, Bradley S., Murphy, Robyn M. and Edwards, Joshua N. (2010) Toward the roles of store-operated Ca(2+) entry in skeletal muscle. Pflugers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology, 460 5: 813-823. doi:10.1007/s00424-010-0856-7 Edwards, Joshua N., Friedrich, Oliver, Cully, Tanya R., von Wegner, Frederic, Murphy, Robyn M. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2010) Upregulation of store-operated Ca2+ entry in dystrophic mdx mouse muscle. American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, 299 1: C42-C50. doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00524.2009 Edwards, Joshua N., Murphy, Robyn M., Cully, Tanya R., von Wegner, Frederic, Friedrich, Oliver and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2010) Ultra-rapid activation and deactivation of store-operated Ca2+ entry in skeletal muscle. Cell Calcium, 47 5: 458-467. doi:10.1016/j.ceca.2010.04.001 Launikonis, Bradley S., Stephenson, D. George and Friedrich, Oliver (2009) Rapid Ca2+ flux through the transverse tubular membrane, activated by individual action potentials in mammalian skeletal muscle. Journal of Physiology, 587 10: 2299-2312. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2009.168682 Edwards, Joshua N. and Launikonis, Bradley S. (2008) The accessibility and interconnectivity of the tubular system network in toad skeletal muscle. The Jounal of Physiology, 586 21: 5077-5089. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2008.155127 Launikonis, BS and Rios, E (2007) Store-operated Ca2+ entry during intracellular Ca2+ release in mammalian skeletal muscle. Journal of Physiology-london, 583 1: 81-97. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2007.135046 Launikonis, B. S., Zhou, J. S., Royer, L., Shannon, T. R., Brum, G. and Rios, E. (2006) Depletion "skraps" and dynamic buffering inside the cellular calcium store. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, 103 8: 2982-2987. doi:10.1073/pnas.0511252103