User:Helen C. Lai

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What lies beyond?

Biography

• UC San Francisco, Ph.D. in the Laboratory of Dr. Lily Jan
  
• Postdoc in the Johnson Lab
  

Research Interests

Ion Channels
For my graduate work, I determined structural constraints for the hyperpolarized state of the six-transmembrane voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel, KAT1, from Arabidopsis thaliana. I conducted a conditional lethal/second-site suppressor screen that identified mutations in close proximity as determined by the rescue of functional channels in a yeast growth assay. A structural model of Kv channel packing emerged from these constraints that withstands experimental verification. This model together with existing data lends mechanistic insight into the structure and mechanism of voltage-gated ion channels.

Developmental Neuroscience
I am currently trying to determine the transcriptional regulatory code and downstream targets of Atoh1, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor involved in differentiation and cell type specification of neurons in the spinal cord and cerebellum.

Publications

1. Lai HC, Grabe M, Jan YN, and Jan LY. The S4 voltage sensor packs against the pore domain in the KAT1 voltage-gated potassium channel. Neuron. 2005 Aug 4;47(3):395-406. DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.06.019 |
1. Lai HC and Johnson JE. Neurogenesis or neuronal specification: phosphorylation strikes again!. Neuron. 2008 Apr 10;58(1):3-5. DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2008.03.023 |
1. Lai HC and Jan LY. The distribution and targeting of neuronal voltage-gated ion channels. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006 Jul;7(7):548-62. DOI:10.1038/nrn1938 |
2. Panteleeva I, Boutillier S, See V, Spiller DG, Rouaux C, Almouzni G, Bailly D, Maison C, Lai HC, Loeffler JP, and Boutillier AL. HP1alpha guides neuronal fate by timing E2F-targeted genes silencing during terminal differentiation. EMBO J. 2007 Aug 8;26(15):3616-28. DOI:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601789 |
3. Grabe M, Lai HC, Jain M, Jan YN, and Jan LY. Structure prediction for the down state of a potassium channel voltage sensor. Nature. 2007 Feb 1;445(7127):550-3. DOI:10.1038/nature05494 |
4. Serber Z, Lai HC, Yang A, Ou HD, Sigal MS, Kelly AE, Darimont BD, Duijf PH, Van Bokhoven H, McKeon F, and Dötsch V. A C-terminal inhibitory domain controls the activity of p63 by an intramolecular mechanism. Mol Cell Biol. 2002 Dec;22(24):8601-11. DOI:10.1128/MCB.22.24.8601-8611.2002 |
5. Ou HD, Lai HC, Serber Z, and Dötsch V. Efficient identification of amino acid types for fast protein backbone assignments. J Biomol NMR. 2001 Nov;21(3):269-73. DOI:10.1023/a:1012920832184 |

Contact info

Helen C. Lai
Department of Neuroscience
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd., NA 4-146
Dallas, TX 75390-9111

Helen.Lai@utsouthwestern.edu
Lab 214-648-1874