Youxing Jiang, Ph.D.

Undergraduate	Peking University - China (1992)
Graduate School	Yale University (1997)

• Ion channels and membrane transporters: The research of our laboratory has been focusing on the structural and functional studies of ion channels and transporters which control the flow of ions across the cell membrane. These proteins regulate many biological processes such as the excitation of nerve and muscle cells, the secretion of hormones, and sensory transduction.
• Ion selectivity of tetrameric cation Channels: To understand the structural basis of ion selectivity in tetrameric cation channels, we have been using the NaK channel as the model system to elucidate the basic principles of ion selectivity in CNG channels and K+ channels.
• Ion transporters: The study on ion transporters in the lab has been focused on Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCX) which are crucial membrane transporters in maintaining the homeostasis of cytosolic Ca2+ for cell signaling. With the determination of a high-resolution structure of an NCX protein from Methanococcus jannaschii (NCX_Mj), we now have a working model system to elucidate the structural basis and mechanistic details of ion exchange in NCX proteins.
• Ligand gating of cation channels: To study channel gating, the lab focuses on a group of ligand gated K+ channels that are regulated by a conserved ligand binding domain, the RCK domain. This group includes the majority of prokaryotic K+ channels and the eukaryotic high-conductance Ca2+-gated K+ channels (BK or maxiK).
• Our research approach is a combination of membrane protein X-ray crystallography, aimed at determining the three dimensional structure of the ion transporting proteins, and channel electrophysiology, to study the physiological functions of these proteins.

Featured Publications

Tuning the ion selectivity of tetrameric cation channels by changing the number of ion binding sites.

Derebe MG, Sauer DB, Zeng W, Alam A, Shi N, Jiang Y Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2011 Jan 108 2 598-602

Structural studies of ion permeation and Ca2+ blockage of a bacterial channel mimicking the cyclic nucleotide-gated channel pore.

Derebe MG, Zeng W, Li Y, Alam A, Jiang Y Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2011 Jan 108 2 592-7

Structure of the gating ring from the human large-conductance Ca(2+)-gated K(+) channel.

Wu Y, Yang Y, Ye S, Jiang Y Nature 2010 Jul 466 7304 393-7

High-resolution structure of the open NaK channel.

Alam A, Jiang Y Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 2009 Jan 16 1 30-4

Crystal structures of a ligand-free MthK gating ring: insights into the ligand gating mechanism of K+ channels.

Ye S, Li Y, Chen L, Jiang Y Cell 2006 Sep 126 6 1161-73

Atomic structure of a Na+- and K+-conducting channel.

Shi N, Ye S, Alam A, Chen L, Jiang Y Nature 2006 Mar 440 7083 570-4

Protein interactions central to stabilizing the K+ channel selectivity filter in a four-sited configuration for selective K+ permeation.

Sauer DB, Zeng W, Raghunathan S, Jiang Y Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2011 Oct 108 40 16634-9

Crucial Points within the Pore as Determinants of K(+) Channel Conductance and Gating.

Shi N, Zeng W, Ye S, Li Y, Jiang Y J. Mol. Biol. 2011 Aug 411 1 27-35

Structural studies of ion selectivity in tetrameric cation channels.

Alam A, Jiang Y J. Gen. Physiol. 2011 May 137 5 397-403

Crystal structure of a potassium ion transporter, TrkH.

Cao Y, Jin X, Huang H, Derebe MG, Levin EJ, Kabaleeswaran V, Pan Y, Punta M, Love J, Weng J, Quick M, Ye S, Kloss B, Bruni R, Martinez-Hackert E, Hendrickson WA, Rost B, Javitch JA, Rajashankar KR, Jiang Y, Zhou M Nature 2011 Mar 471 7338 336-40

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  Investigator (2008)
• McKnight Scholar Award
  The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience (2006)
• David and Lucile Packard Fellowship
  The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (2004)
• Searle Scholars Award
  The Searle Scholars Program (2004)
• Endowed Scholar
  UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (2003)