X-Lab
X-Laboratory
(跨膜信号研究组)
Principle Investigator: Xiaodong LIU, Ph.D. (刘晓冬)
Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine
IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research
School of Life Sciences
at Tsinghua University
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Welcome to the X-Lab!
Our research has been in the field of ion channels, focusing on subthreshold or non-spiking behaviors and favoring concepts and methods from synthetic electrophysiology. Major interests are on in-depth biophysical mechanisms of ion channel functions, pursued by applying both biological and engineering principles onto biological entities (channel subunits, modulators and signaling proteins) and physical components (electrical & optical materials, devices and instruments) coupled with excitable membranes for the reconstitution of ion channels’ functionality & pathophysiology. We are particularly attracted by the amazing capabilities of ion channels in sensing exogenous stimuli of diverse modality, such as transmembrane potentials, ionic signals, mechanical forces and electromagnetic radiations. How exactly would ion channels sense, transduce and encode the stimuli (i.e., energy and information) at submolecular, molecular and cellular levels? Based on these core biophysics, we pursue mechanistic understanding, pathophysiological ramifications and bioengineering innovations, of transmembrane signaling via ion channels. Particularly, our research direction at the cellular/neuronal level is information processing: sensory signaling and neural oscillations, and the other major direction is about plasticity: excitation-transcription coupling and [math]\displaystyle{ Ca{_V} }[/math] channels / [math]\displaystyle{ Ca{^{2+}} }[/math] signals. The methodologies span from electrophysiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and optical imaging to biophysical modeling and engineering design & analysis. We are also interested in developing de novo tools/methods when necessary and possible for targeted sciences.
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