Prof. LIU Jianfeng from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) visits IHB on June 28, 2022. (Credit: IHB)

Prof. LIU Jianfeng from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) visited the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 28, 2022. During his visit, he gave a lecture with the title of “Study of G protein-coupled receptor dimer activation mechanism”.   

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of membrane receptors that are involved in numerous physiological processes, such as sense of light, taste and smell, behaviors and emotions, regulation of the immune system and the autonomic nervous system. They play an important role in cellular communication and are important drug targets.   

In this lecture, Prof. Liu described in detail the important innovations achieved in recent years in the integration of signaling by GPCRs dimer. Researchers have established the automated high-throughput nanobody screening platform, discovered the interregulation and pathway activation modes within GPCRs dimerization and G protein isoforms that promote multiple synergistic pathways upon GABA receptor dimer activation, and revealed the important role of mGluR heterodimers in physiological functions and the possible source of biased signals of GPCRs dimer/multimers.    

Prof. Liu is the dean of College of Life Sciences and Technology at HUST, and the director of Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics under the Ministry of Education. He is a distinguished professor under the "Changjiang Scholars Award Program" of the Ministry of Education and a recipient of the "National Outstanding Young Scientists Fund" of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has presided over a number of grants such as the Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Outstanding Youth Fund and the Innovation and Intellectual Property Program of the Ministry of Education. He has published 70 papers in journals including Cell, Nature, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Communications, Angew, Chem. Int. Ed., EMBO J, and PNAS.