Research groups
Colleges
Rebecca Capel
BA(hons), DPhil, FHEA
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
- Junior Research Fellow, Campion Hall
- Lecturer in Pharmacology, Magdalen College
Our research group, run by Dr Rebecca Burton and funded by the Wellcome Trust, aims to link together structural, signalling and patient information to improve our understanding of, and treatment options for, heart disease with a particular focus on the atria and sino-atrial node.
My research focusses on the control of calcium and electrical activity in cells of the heart. I am particularly interested in studying how calcium originating in lysosomes, which have traditionally been thought of as waste disposal units, contributes to acute and chronic signalling in health and disease. To do this I use a range of techniques including measuring the electrical and calcium activity from individual heart cells in real time, imaging the substructure of cardiac cells and assessing the proteome of tissue from healthy and diseased patients.
Outside of my laboratory research, I am involved with teaching undergraduate Medical/Biomedical Sciences and MSc Pharmacology students, and in Outreach activities. I passionately believe that Outreach is of central importance to improving uptake of and enthusiasm in the STEM disciplines and helping young people to realise and fulfil their potential. To this end, I work closely with schools, particularly in Hertfordshire, to conduct science days and careers talks and have also spoken as part of the international science festival Pint of Science.
Recent publications
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IP3-mediated Ca2+ release regulates atrial Ca2+ transients and pacemaker function by stimulation of adenylyl cyclases.
Journal article
Capel RA. et al, (2021), Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 320, H95 - H107
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Optical Interrogation of Sympathetic Neuronal Effects on Macroscopic Cardiomyocyte Network Dynamics.
Journal article
Burton R-AB. et al, (2020), iScience, 23
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The Role of NAADP-Mediated Endo-Lysosomal Calcium Release in the Cardiac Atria
Conference paper
Capel RA. et al, (2020), BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 118, 568A - 568A
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Transverse cardiac slicing and optical imaging for analysis of transmural gradients in membrane potential and Ca2+ transients in murine heart.
Journal article
Wen Q. et al, (2018), J Physiol, 596, 3951 - 3965
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Cross Talk between IP3 and Adenylyl Cyclase Signaling Pathways in Cardiac Atrial Myocytes
Conference paper
Terrar DA. et al, (2018), BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 114, 466A - 466A