报告人：
　　Shixin Ye-Lehmann
　　Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure (IBENS)
　　主持人：赵永芳研究员
　　报告时间： 2016年7月13日下午13:30
　　报告地点：6437会议室
　　报告人简介：
　　Research interests
　　Structural function understanding of neuronal proteins by applying the genetic code expansion technology
　　Re-creation of a minimal set of the genetic code in living systems to unravel the coding principles
　　Education and Training
　　2016-present Team leader (Genomic Engineering and Genetic Code Evolution)
　　 Laboratory of Computational and Quantitative Biology, University of Pierre Marie Curie 　　
　　2011-2015 CR1 (Government INSERM permanent researcher (ranked No. 1 in concours competition)
　　2010-2011 Postdoctoral Fellow (under the fellowship of Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, France)
　　2004-2009 Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rockefeller University, New York City, USA
　　1998-2004 Ph.D., Chemistry Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
　　1994-1998 B.S., Chemistry Department, Peking University, Beijing, China
　  报告内容摘要：
    Neuronal receptors are membrane proteins mediating diverse physiological functions in the brain. The challenge to obtain functional proteins makes their characterizations significantly lagged behind water soluble proteins. The genetic code expansion technology has created a direct impact in protein engineering by providing varieties of probes carried by the unnatural amino acids (Uaas) ideal for structural and functional scanning. Among those Uaas, the p-azido-L-phenylalanine (AzF) is the most versatile probe. The infrared property of the azido moiety enables the FTIR tracking of photoreceptor rhodopsin activation, revealing state-dependant protein conformational changes associated with dim-light vision. As the smallest encodable light switch, AzF uncovers novel allsoteric regulatory mechanisms in the NMDA receptors, a type of glutamate-gated ion channels mediating excitatory synaptic transmissions associated with learning and memory. Our demonstrations provide original tools and concepts that compliment to classical techniques. They enhance our abilities to address difficult questions related to optogenetics and neuropharmacology.