Topic: Expect the Unexpected: a tale of two Ion channels

Speaker: Tianmin Fu, Assistant Professor

Host：Yanyan Li, Associate Professor

Time: 4:00-5:30 PM, August 8, 2024 (Thursday)

Venue: Room 111, Lynn Library

Abstract: 

In this talk, I will discuss the unexpected discoveries of two ion channels and highlight the exciting journey of an exceptional postdoc fellow. In the first story, I will tell you how we accidentally identified the first lysosomal proton channel when studying a non-canonical potassium channel. In my second story, I will elaborate how protein oligomerization can regulate the mechano-sensitivity of ion channels.

Brief introduction of the speaker:

I received my Ph.D. from Peking University in 2011. Then, I joined Dr. Hao Wu’s lab at Harvard Medical School and worked on innate immune signaling from 2012 to 2020. My postdoctoral work focused on understanding of Death receptor signaling and inflammasomes. After starting my own lab in 2020 at the Ohio State University, I have shifted my focus to lysosomal signaling and bacterial immunity. Over the past four years, we have made a few groundbreaking discoveries in both fields and published our work in top-tier journals, including Nature, Cell, Mol Cell, and NSMB. Due to my contribution in cell signaling, I was named as a recipient of SCBA young investigator award, 2024.