Youxing Jiang, Ph.D.

Undergraduate

Peking University (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

The conserved potassium channel filter can have distinct ion binding profiles: Structural analysis of rubidium, cesium, and barium binding in NaK2K.

Lam YL, Zeng W, Sauer DB, Jiang Y J. Gen. Physiol. 2014 Aug 144 2 181-92

Sodium and potassium competition in potassium-selective and non-selective channels.

Sauer DB, Zeng W, Canty J, Lam Y, Jiang Y Nat Commun 2013 4 2721

Structural insight into the ion-exchange mechanism of the sodium/calcium exchanger.

Liao J, Li H, Zeng W, Sauer DB, Belmares R, Jiang Y Science 2012 Feb 335 6069 686-90

Distinct gating mechanisms revealed by the structures of a multi-ligand gated K(+) channel.

Kong C, Zeng W, Ye S, Chen L, Sauer DB, Lam Y, Derebe MG, Jiang Y Elife 2012 1 e00184

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

• Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards
  The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST) (2013)
• 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)