Ahmed Alhussni

As part of my FHS year (third year) I carried out a research project investigating the molecular mechanisms behind Malignant Hyperthermia (MH).

This is a potentially life-threatening disorder where body temperature rapidly increases when anaesthesia is administered in surgery. Mutations in the type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) are implicated, the intracellular ion channel involved in muscle contraction. Using the single channel recording technique, I was able to record the live gating of wild type and mutant ryanodine receptors. My results showed that the most common UK mutation of the ion channel (p.G2435R-RyR1) has greater single channel conductance and altered regulation, predisposing it to sustained activation by volatile anaesthetics. This project has also developed a novel protocol for performing experiments at physiological body temperature (37°C). Some of the data from my project was recently published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. I’d like to thank Prof. Sitsapesan, the Sitsapesan lab and Prof. Greaves for all their support and guidance.