Miao Lab /pharm/miaolab Department of Pharmacology Mon, 21 Apr 2025 17:32:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Welcome Dr. Aamir Mehmood! /pharm/miaolab/2025/04/welcome-dr-aamir-mehmood/ Mon, 21 Apr 2025 17:31:10 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3194

Welcome Dr. Aamir Mehmood to join Miao Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Associate!

 

]]>
Welcome Tyler! /pharm/miaolab/2025/04/welcome-tyler/ Sun, 20 Apr 2025 02:16:35 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3184 Welcome Tyler Thompson from the Department of Pharmacology to join the Miao Lab as a new graduate student!

]]>
Congratulations to Keya for passing the Oral Exam! /pharm/miaolab/2025/03/congratulations-to-keya-for-passing-the-oral-exam/ Fri, 21 Mar 2025 20:24:46 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3170 Congratulations to Keya for passing the Oral Exam for PhD qualification! Well done!

]]>
Farewell dinner for Jinan /pharm/miaolab/2025/02/farewell-dinner-for-jinan/ Fri, 28 Feb 2025 03:11:13 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3166 It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with Jinan for the past 7 years. Really appreciate his kindness and tremendous help of other members in the lab. Good luck to Jinan and his family for the next stage of life in Shanghai!

Jinan Farewell Dinner

]]>
Welcome Leo! /pharm/miaolab/2025/02/welcome-leo/ Fri, 28 Feb 2025 02:51:02 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3164 Welcome Leo He to join Miao Lab as an Undergraduate Researcher!

]]>
Welcome Tyler for graduate rotation! /pharm/miaolab/2025/02/welcome-tyler-for-graduate-rotation/ Thu, 06 Feb 2025 02:21:20 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3140 °Â±ð±ô³¦´Ç³¾±ðÌýTyler Thompson as a new Pharmacology graduate rotation student in Miao Lab!

]]>
New paper on Peptide Agonist Dissociation and Deactivation of Adhesion GPCRs /pharm/miaolab/2025/02/new-paper-on-peptide-agonist-dissociation-and-deactivation-of-adhesion-gpcrs/ Thu, 06 Feb 2025 02:19:02 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3138 Read more]]> Congratulations to Keya for a first-authored paper published in Biochemistry on ““!

Abstract

Abstract Image

Adhesion G protein–coupled receptors (ADGRs) belong to Class B2 of GPCRs and are involved in a wide array of important physiological processes. ADGRs contain a GPCR autoproteolysis-inducing domain that is proximal to the receptor N-terminus and undergoes autoproteolysis during the biosynthesis to generate two fragments: the N-terminal fragment (NTF) and the C-terminal fragment (CTF). Dissociation of NTF reveals a tethered agonist to activate the CTF of ADGRs for G protein signaling. Synthetic peptides that mimic the tethered agonist can also activate ADGRs. However, mechanisms of peptide agonist dissociation and the deactivation of ADGRs remain poorly understood. In this study, we have performed all-atom enhanced sampling simulations using a novel protein–protein interaction Gaussian-accelerated molecular dynamics (PPI-GaMD) method on the ADGRG2-IP15 and ADGRG1-P7 complexes. The PPI-GaMD simulations captured the dissociation of the IP15 and P7 peptide agonists from their target receptors. We were able to identify important low-energy conformations of ADGRG2 and ADGRG1 in the active, intermediate, and inactive states, as well as different states of the peptide agonists IP15 and P7 during dissociation. Therefore, our PPI-GaMD simulations have revealed dynamic mechanisms of peptide agonist dissociation and deactivation of ADGRG1 and ADGRG2, which will facilitate the rational design of peptide regulators of the two receptors and other ADGRs.

]]>
New paper on Intermediate GPCR-G protein complex! /pharm/miaolab/2025/02/new-paper-on-intermediate-gpcr-g-protein-complex/ Thu, 06 Feb 2025 01:45:32 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3135 Read more]]> Congratulations to Jinan and Victor in our lab for a collaborative paper published in Nature Communications on Jan 28, 2025 (Chinese New Year day!): ““. Thanks to Prof. Libin Ye’s lab at University of South Florida and Prof. Yifan Cheng’s lab at University of California San Francisco for the great collaboration!

Abstract

Unraveling the signaling roles of intermediate complexes is pivotal for G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) drug development. Despite hundreds of GPCR-Gαβγ structures, these snapshots primarily capture the fully activated complex. Consequently, the functions of intermediate GPCR-G protein complexes remain elusive. Guided by a conformational landscape visualized via 19F quantitative NMR and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we determined the structure of an intermediate GPCR-mini-Gαsβγ complex at 2.6 Å using cryo-EM, by blocking its transition to the fully activated complex. Furthermore, we present direct evidence that the complex at this intermediate state initiates a rate-limited nucleotide exchange before transitioning to the fully activated complex. In this state, BODIPY-GDP/GTP based nucleotide exchange assays further indicated the α-helical domain of the Gα is partially open, allowing it to grasp a nucleotide at a non-canonical binding site, distinct from the canonical nucleotide-binding site. These advances bridge a significant gap in our understanding of the complexity of GPCR signaling.

]]>
Welcome Dr. Fu Xiao /pharm/miaolab/2025/01/welcome-dr-fu-xiao/ Tue, 07 Jan 2025 01:57:35 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3123 Welcome Dr. Fu Xiao to join Miao Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Associate!

]]>
Yinglong gave an Opening Keynote Lecture in YMW2024 workshop /pharm/miaolab/2024/12/yinglong-gave-an-opening-keynote-talk-in-ymw2024-workshop/ Wed, 11 Dec 2024 02:49:13 +0000 /pharm/miaolab/?p=3115 Read more]]> Yinglong gave an Opening Keynote Lecture in the about ““. The workshop is organized by the Italian Bioinformatics Society (BITS) and the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIB) for young scientists in both societies. Thanks to Dr. Paola Fossa and Dr. Pasqualina D’Ursi for the kind invitation and the organizers for putting together the wonderful workshop!

]]>