The Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences

Ana M. Pajor

Dr. Ana Pajor is a Professor of Pharmacy at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. She received a Ph.D. in Physiology in 1988 from the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Her postdoctoral training in Molecular Physiology was done at UCLA with Dr. Ernest Wright.

Research Interests

The main focus of the Pajor lab is to understand the transport mechanism of sodium-coupled transporters, particularly the Na+/dicarboxylate cotransporters (NaDC) from the SLC13 family. NaDC1, the low affinity transporter, is found in the kidney and small intestine where it is involved in absorbing citric acid cycle intermediates such as succinate, citrate and a-ketoglutarate into the cells. The transport activity of NaDC1 may affect many processes in the body including the development of kidney stones, regulation of blood pressure, secretion of organic anion drugs and xenobiotics, and determination of lifespan. Our main interest is the relationship between structure and function in NaDC1 (and its bacterial homolog SdcS), and the identification of substrate and cation binding sites. Recent studies include characterization of a new inhibitor of NaDC1, which may serve as a prodrug for further development.

Selected Publications

Pajor, A.M. Molecular properties of the SLC13 family of dicarboxylate and sulfate transporters: an update. Pflugers Archiv, 451;597-605, 2006.

Hall, J.A. and Pajor, A.M. Functional reconstitution of SdcS, a Na+-coupled dicarboxylate carrier protein from Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 189:880-885, 2007

Weerachayaphorn, J. and Pajor, A.M. Sodium-dependent extracellular accessibility of Lys-84 in the sodium/dicarboxylate cotransporter. J. Biol. Chem. 282:20213-20220, 2007.

Pajor, A.M. and Randolph, K.M. Inhibition of the Na+/dicarboxylate cotransporter by anthranilic acid derivatives. Mol. Pharmacol. 72:1330-1336, 2007

Pajor, A.M., Randolph, K.M., Kerner, S.A., and Smith, C.D. Inhibitor binding in the human renal low and high affinity Na+/glucose cotransporters. JPET 324:1-7, 2008

Joshi, A. and Pajor, A.M. Identification of Confromationally sensitive amino acids on the Na+/dicarboxylate symporter (SDCS). Biochemistry 48: 3017-3024, 2009.

List of Publications in Pub Med