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Mechanically gated ion channels play essential roles in transforming mechanical forces into cellular signals, a biological process referred to as mechanosensation. The focus of Dr. Shi’s research is to explore mechanisms by which ion channels of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC)/degenerin family are regulated by mechanical forces. She uses the two expression systems, Xenopus oocytes and C. elegans worms, to perform systematic structure-function studies, and then translates her findings into a whole animal setting. She discovered that the C. elegans degenerin channel was activated by shear stress and the two pore-forming subunits, MEC-4 and MEC-10 had distinct roles in this response. She is currently working on identifying key domain or sites within the degenerin channel required for the channel’s activation by shear stress. She is also studying how accessory proteins, such as MEC-6 and its mammalian homology PON-2 regulate the channel activity and gating.
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