![Boosting Liver Detoxification]()
The liver is essential for removing molecules such as drugs and toxins from the bloodstream—a job done by hepatocytes, cells that comprise most of the liver’s mass and remove these compounds from the blood using specialized transporter proteins. Allan Wolkoff, M.D., has received a $2.3 million, five-year renewal grant from the NIH to continue his research on improving the liver’s detoxification ability. In a healthy liver, these transporter proteins are in a balanced state as they travel between the cell surface of hepatocytes and vesicles within the cells. But disease can disrupt this equilibrium, causing so few transporters at the cell surface that toxic compounds can accumulate in the blood. Dr. Wolkoff is studying the molecular mechanisms that govern transporter trafficking and the cell-surface expression of transporter proteins. His research may lead to strategies for improving the liver-mediated clearance of chemicals from the circulation. Dr. Wolkoff is director of the Marion Bessin Liver Research Center, professor of anatomy and structural biology, and the Herman Lopata Chair in Lliver Disease Research at Einstein, as well as an attending physician and chief of the division of gastroenterology and liver diseases in the department of medicine and associate chair for research at Montefiore.
Posted on: Thursday, March 17, 2016