Preprint is up! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Trevor Docter + Ben Sorum found cannabinoids inhibit mechanosensitive K+ channels, including TRAAK mutants that cause epilepsy and FHEIG in humans. #ephys and #cryoem shows CBD competes with lipids to bind inside the channel cavity and block the pore.

So happy to finally share my final paper from my PhD! By collecting cryo-EM datasets at sub-saturating concentrations of ACh, we were able to determine a mono-liganded state of the muscle-type nAChR. This state has a fully activated alpha subunit where ACh binds…

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Although flow wasn’t involved, cloning was!

Thank you so much, and cool question! We haven’t tested this in detail with functional experiments, but from our density we don’t see anything to indicate lipid specificity. Our models are compatible with many head groups, except the especially bulky ones. It would be cool to explore this further!

One more from earlier this month! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We found sphingolipid binding to SARS-CoV-2 M protein controls its conformation to coordinate viral assembly and release. Great collaboration with Voth + Stahelin labs led by Kim Dolan, Mandira Dutta, and Souad Amiar #cryoem #SARSCoV2

The first story from my PhD is now available on bioRxiv!: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We determined structures of a LRRC8A:D VRAC by cryo-EM and explored the role of pore lipids in their gating. Huge thanks to the whole Brohawn lab, and especially to Steve @stevebrohawn.bsky.social and David!

Excited to share our preprint about volume regulated ion channels here! We solved structures of heteromeric LRRC8A:D channels and show how they are gated closed by pore-blocking lipids. Led by @antonylurie.bsky.social + David Kern
#IonChannel #cryoem
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...