Time:
Friday, May. 15 2026, 15:00 p.m.
Location:
Innovation Hub, North Basic Research Building
Host：
Zhiqiang Yan
Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing
School of Basic Medical Sciences, Capital Medical University
Speaker：
Yixiao Zhang
Principle Investigator
Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry (IRCBC)
TITLE：
The Role of Lipids in Mechanotransduction
ABSTRACT:
All known life forms detect and respond to mechanical forces. These mechanical cues are converted into electrical signals by mechanosensitive channels, a transduction cascade central to many physiological processes, including hearing, osmoregulation, and proprioception. However, how these channels respond to mechanical forces remains largely elusive, mainly due to the difficulty of mimicking mechanical force to capture their structures in action. Our lab utilizes nanodisc- and liposome-based methods to mimic mechanical environments for structural analysis of mechanosensitive channels in their activated states. Through studies of diverse mechanosensitive channels from bacteria, plants, and mammals, we have revealed critical roles of lipids and lipidation in mechanotransduction.
SELECTED PAPERS
1. Han, Y., Zhou, Z., Jin, R., Dai, F., Ge, Y., Ju, X., Ma, X., He, S., Yuan, L., Wang, Y., Yang, W., Yue, X., Chen, Z., Sun, Y., Corry, B.# , Cox, C. D.#, and Zhang, Y.# (2024). Mechanical activation opens a lipid-lined pore in OSCA ion channels. Nature, 1-9.
2. Zhou, Z., Ma, X., Lin, Y., Cheng, D., Bavi, N., Secker, G.A., Li, J.V., Janbandhu, V., Sutton, D.L., Scott, H.S., Zhang, Y.#, Cox, C.D.# (2023). MyoD-family inhibitor proteins act as auxiliary subunits of Piezo channels. Science, 381, 799-804.
3. Zhang, H., Zhou, Z., Sun, Y.#, Cox, C.D.#, Zhang, Y.# (2026). Structural insights into TREK2 mechanosensation under tension. Under review
4. Zhang, Y., Daday, C., Gu, R., Cox, C.D., Martinac, B., Groot, B., Walz, T. (2021). Visualizing the mechanosensitive ion channel MscS under membrane tension. Nature, 590, 509-514.
10 Xitoutiao, Youanmen Wai, Fengtai District, Beijing 100069, China
010-86738999
cimr@cimrbj.ac.cn
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