Washington University School of Medicine

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Krzystztof Hyrc, PhD

Dr. Hyrc is primarily interested in ionic mechanisms of excitotoxic neuronal cell death. He specializes in intracellular ion concentration measurements using optical techniques, particularly low affinity calcium indicators.

Medical Training

Dr. Hyrc is originally from Krakow in Poland. He received his M.Sc. (summa cum laude) in biology in 1981 and his PhD in cellular biophysics in 1987 from Jagielloniasn University in Krakow, Poland. Dr. Hyrc completed his first postdoctoral training at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami, Florida. In 1990, he returned from Miami to his native Krakow and was appointed an Instructor at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Jagiellonian University. In 1995, Dr. Hyrc came to Washington University School of Medicine to work as a research associate before being appointed a research Instructor in 2001.

Selected Publications

Romano C, Miller JK, Hyrc KL, Dikranian S, Mennerick S, Takeuchi Y, Goldberg MP, O'Malley KL, Covalent and noncovalent interactions mediate metabotropic glutamate receptor mGlu(5) dimerization.
Molecular Pharmacology 200,1 59:46-53

Hyrc KL, Bownik JM, Goldberg MP, Ionic selectivity of low affinity ratiometric calcium indicators: mag-fura-2, fura-2FF and BTC. Cell Calcium 2000, 27:75-86.

Hyrc KL, Bownik JM, Goldberg MP, Properties of BTC/AM, a low affinity calcium indicator in cultured neurons. Cell Calcium 1998, 24; 156-175.

Hasbani MJ, Hyrc KL, Faddis BY, Romano C, Goldberg MP, Distinct roles for sodium, chloride and calcium in excitotoxic dendritic injury. Experimental. Neurology 1998, 154; 241-258.

McDonald JW, Althomsons SP, Hyrc KL, Choi DW, Goldberg MP, Oligodendrocytes from forebrain are highly vulnerable to AMPA/kainate receptor-mediated excitotoxicity. Nature Medicine 1998, 4; 291-297.

Hyrc K, Handran SD, Rothman SM, Goldberg MP, Ionized intracellular calcium concentration predicts excitotoxic neuronal death: observations with low-affinity fluorescent calcium indicators. J. Neurosci 1997, 17; 6669-6677.

Hyrc K, Rose B, The action of v-src on gap junctional permeability is modulated by pH. J Cell Biol 1990 110:1217-1226.