Chemistry Seminar | Alumna, Honorary Degree Recipient Jue Chen, April 29 

Ohio University alumna Jue Chen will present a Chemistry & Biochemistry seminar, discussing “CFTR, the Odd ABC Transporter Responsible for Cystic Fibrosis.” on Friday, April 29, from 4:10 to 5:05 p.m. in Walter 245.

Chen, named an Ohio University Honorary Degree recipient in 2020, will be on campus to receive that degree at the graduate commencement on April 29.

Chen earned a B.S. in Chemistry through the Honors Tutorial College in 1993. Her Ph.D. was earned in 1998 at Harvard University under the direction of the late Don C. Wiley.

She is currently the William E. Ford Professor at the Rockefeller University and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 

She was named a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2019.

Abstract : The work in my lab is centered on ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters.  These are a diverse group of membrane proteins utilizing the chemical energy of ATP hydrolysis to transport substrates against their electrochemical gradients.  Among the thousands of ABC transporters, one member, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), has evolved to function as an ATP-gated ion channel.  Mutation of the CFTR gene causes cystic fibrosis (CF), a lethal disease with a prevalence of 1 in 2500 in Caucasian populations.  In this talk, I will present the structures of CFTR, describe its unique features that enable a mechanistic understanding of why this particular ABC transporter functions as an ion channel, how the channel activity is regulated, and how the drugs interact and modulate CFTR.