Faculty Profile

Tsung-Yu Chen
Associate Professor
Neurology (School of Medicine)

Office (530) 754-7166
Lab
tycchen@ucdavis.edu
[Picture of Tsung-Yu Chen]
Structures, functions and physiological roles of ion channels.

Degrees:
1994 - PhD - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine -
1988 - MS - National Yang-Ming Medical College -
1986 - MD - National Yang-Ming Medical College -

Awards:
Paul Cranefield Award, Society of General Physiologists, 2004.

Department and Center Affiliations:
Center for Neuroscience and Dept of Neurology

Professional Societies:
Biophysical Society, USA
Society of General Physiologists, USA
American Chemical Society

Grad Group Affiliations and Specialties:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Biophysics
Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology
Neuroscience

Publications:
M-F Chen and T-Y Chen (2003). Side-chain charge effects and conductance determinants in the pore of ClC-0 chloride channel. J. Gen. Physiol. 122: 133-145.

C-W Lin and T-Y Chen (2003). Probing the pore of ClC-0 by substituted cysteine accessibility method using methane thiosulfonate reagents. J. Gen. Physiol. 122: 147-159.

Chen T.-Y. (2005) Structure and function of ClC channels. Ann. Rev. Physiol. 67: 809-839.

Li Y, Yu W,-P., Lin C.-W. and Chen T.-Y. (2005) Oxidation and Reduction Control of the Inactivation Gating of Torpedo ClC-0 Chloride Channels. Biophys J. 88(6):3936-45.

Bykova E. A., Zhang X.-D., Chen T.-Y., and Zheng J. (2006) Large movement in the C-terminus of CLC-0 chloride channel during slow gating. Nature Struct & Mol. Biol. 13: 1115-1119.

Tseng P.-Y., Bennetts B., and Chen T.-Y. (2007) Cytoplasmic ATP inhibition of CLC-1 is enhanced by low pH. J. Gen. Physiol. 130: 217-221.

Research Interests:
The long term interest in my laboratory is to understand the structure and function of a class of transmembrane proteins, ion channels. These proteins control ion fluxes across cell membranes, and in doing so maintain normal physiological functions, such as conduction of nerve impulses, secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters, and maintaining cardiac rhythm. My recent work has been focused on one type of ion channels, the CLC chloride channels (CLC, for Cl- Channels).

The CLC-type channels carry out a variety of physiological tasks. For example, the CLC-1 chloride channel controls the membrane potential and the excitability of muscle cells, and certain myotonias in goats, mice, and humans are caused by its disruption. CLC-2, another member in this family, is expressed ubiquitously in various tissues. Mutation of CLC-2 gene is underlying one form of idiopathic epilepsy. The mutational consequences on the channel functions are not well understood.

The strategy we employed to examine the mutational effects on CLC channels is to combine electrophysiological methods such as patch-clamp recordings, molecular biological tools such as site-directed mutagenesis, and chemical modification methods using thiol-specific modifying reagents. We have identified multiple gating mechanisms for CLC channels, and have determined the functional roles of critical amino acid residues in the pore. We have also experimentally demonstrated the positively charged intrinsic electrostatic potential in the pore of CLC channels. Further studies on the structure and function of CLC channels are currently ongoing.

Laboratory Personnel:
Chen Lab - Pang-Yen Tseng, Wei-Ping Yu, Xiao-Dong Zhang

Courses Taught:
NSC 221 Cellular Neurobiology - Term(s): Fall