Nieng Yan Ph.D.
University Professor International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1996-2000 B.S., Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2000-2004 Ph.D candidate, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
2005-2007 Post-doctoral research associate, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
2007-2017 Professor, School of Medicine and School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
2017-2022 Shirley M. Tilghman Professor, Department of Molecular Biology; Adjunct Professor, Department of Chemistry, Princeton University
2022-present Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Research interest
Transport across membrane is one of the basic processes to maintain the normal life activities of all species. Integral membrane transport proteins maintain the normal life of cells and complete basic processes such as signal transduction, energy conversion, metabolism. We combine structural biology, biochemical, and biophysical approaches to study the structure and mechanism of transmembrane transport proteins. We aim to reveal the molecular basis for their physiological and pathophysiological functions and contribute to drug development targeting representative transport proteins as follows:
1. Structural and mechanistic investigation of solute transporters exemplified by the glucose transporter GLUTs
2. Structure and mechanism of voltage-gated Ca2+/Na+ channels
3. Regulation of cellular homeostasis of sterol and lipids
Selected publications
1. Xia Yao, Shuai Gao#, Jixin Wang, Zhangqiang Li, Jian Huang, Yan Wang, Zhifei Wang, Jiaofeng Chen, Xiao Fan, Weipeng Wang, Xueqin Jin, Xiaojing Pan, Yong Yu, Armando Lagrutta, Nieng Yan# (2022) Structural basis for the severe adverse interaction of sofosbuvir and amiodarone on L-type Cav channels. Cell, 185(25):4801-4810.
2. Shuai Gao, Xia Yao, Nieng Yan# (2021) Structure of human Cav2.2 channel blocked by the painkiller ziconotide. Nature, 596(7870):143-147.
3. Hongwu Qian#, Xin Zhao, Renhong Yan, Xia Yao, Shuai Gao, Xue Sun, Ximing Du, Hongyuan Yang, Catherine C L Wong, Nieng Yan# (2020) Structural basis for catalysis and substrate specificity of human ACAT1. Nature, 581(7808):333-338.
4. Huaizong Shen, Dongliang Liu, Kun Wu, Jianlin Lei, Nieng Yan# (2019) Structures of human Nav1.7 channel in complex with auxiliary subunits and animal toxins. Science, 363(6433):1303-1308.
5. Xiaojing Pan, Zhangqiang Li, Qiang Zhou, Huaizong Shen, Kun Wu, Xiaoshuang Huang, Jiaofeng Chen, Juanrong Zhang, Xuechen Zhu, Jianlin Lei, Wei Xiong, Haipeng Gong, Bailong Xiao, Nieng Yan# (2018) Structure of the human voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.4 in complex with β1. Science, 362(6412): eaau2486.
6. Huaizong Shen, Qiang Zhou, Xiaojing Pan, Zhangqiang Li, Jianping Wu, Nieng Yan# (2017) Structure of a eukaryotic voltage-gated sodium channel at near-atomic resolution. Science, 355(6328): eaal4326.
7. Wei Peng, Huaizong Shen, Jianping Wu, Wenting Guo, Xiaojing Pan, Ruiwu Wang, S. R. Wayne Chen#, Nieng Yan# (2016) Structural basis for the gating mechanism of the type 2 ryanodine receptor RyR2. Science, 354(6310): aah5324.
8. Jianping Wu, Zhen Yan, Zhangqiang Li, Xingyang Qian, Shan Lu, Mengqiu Dong, Qiang Zhou & Nieng Yan# (2016) Structure of the voltage-gated calcium channel Cav1.1 at 3.6 Å resolution. Nature, 537(7619): 191–196.
9. Jianping Wu, Zhen Yan, Zhangqiang Li, Chuangye Yan, Shan Lu, Mengqiu Dong, and Nieng Yan# (2015) Structure of the voltage-gated calcium channel Cav1.1 complex. Science, 350(6267): aad2395.
10. Dong Deng, Pengcheng Sun, Chuangye Yan, Meng Ke, Xin Jiang, Lei Xiong, Wenlin Ren, Kunio Hirata, Masaki Yamamoto, Shilong Fan & Nieng Yan# (2015) Molecular basis of ligand recognition and transport by glucose transporters. Nature, 526(7573): 391-396.
11. Zhen Yan, Xiao-chen Bai, Chuangye Yan, Jianping Wu, Zhangqiang Li, Tian Xie, Wei Peng, Chang-cheng Yin, Xueming Li, Sjors H. W. Scheres#, Yigong Shi# & Nieng Yan# (2015) Structure of the rabbit ryanodine receptor RyR1 at near-atomic resolution. Nature, 517(7532): 50-55.
12. Dong Deng, Chao Xu, Pengcheng Sun, Jianping Wu, Chuangye Yan, Mingxu Hu & Nieng Yan# (2014) Crystal structure of the human glucose transporter GLUT1. Nature, 510(7503): 121-125.
13. Linfeng Sun, Xin Zeng, Chuangye Yan, Xiuyun Sun, Xinqi Gong, Yu Rao, and Nieng Yan# (2012) Crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of glucose transporters GLUT1-4. Nature, 490(7420): 361-366.
14. Xu Zhang, Wenlin Ren, Paul DeCaen, Chuangye Yan, Xiao Tao, Lin Tang, Jingjing Wang, Kazuya Hasegawa, Takashi Kumasaka, Jianhua He, Jiawei Wang, David E. Clapham, and Nieng Yan# (2012) Crystal structure of an orthologue of the NaChBac voltage-gated sodium channel. Nature, 486(7401): 130-134.
15. Shangyu Dang, Linfeng Sun, Feiran Lu, Jiawei Wang#, and Nieng Yan# (2010) Structure of a fucose transporter in an outward-open conformation. Nature, 467(7316), 734-738.
Contact information
TEL: +86-10-62771298 (lab)
E-mail: nyan(at)tsinghua.edu.cn
