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Marriah Green was awarded Bernard F. Erlanger Award for Excellence in Research

Published on 05.16.2023

Department of Nutrition has awarded Dr. Marriah Green with Bernard F. Erlanger Award for Excellence in Research. The Bernard F. Erlanger Award for Excellence in Research was established in 2012 by the Institute of Human Nutrition in honor of the late Dr. Erlanger’s commitment to education, mentoring and research. It is presented annually at the […]


Why you should eat more soy!

Published on 05.15.2023

– A dominant chemical ingredient in nutritional soy identified as a magic bullet against cancer If you had hoped that all those soy lattes will pay off one day, here is the scientific proof that they will: A study led by Arthur Neuberger in our lab showed for the first time how a phytoestrogen called […]


Structures of Ion Channels Help Scientists to Fight Mineral Imbalance

Published on 05.12.2023

In our recent research study published in Nature Communications, we uncovered a structural mechanism for regulating organismal levels of divalent cations through a master regulator ion channel, TRPM7. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the world and the leading cause of disability in the United States for individuals ages 15-44. Depression […]


Alternative Strategy to Opioid-Based Pain Relief Treatment That Can Save Millions of Lives

Published on

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Millions of lives have been lost in the United States alone due to addiction caused by opioid-based pain relief treatment. We probed an alternative, addiction-free strategy to conventional opioid-based pain relief treatment that targets the actual receptors of pain at the very origin of pain perception – the channel protein and pain receptor TRPV1. In […]


Welcome, Dr. Green!

Published on 12.28.2022

Marriah Green has successfully defended her PhD on November 11, 2022. Title of her work is “Structure and function of glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs)”. This day is both an exciting and sad for everyone in our lab. Getting a degree is the end of the long path of graduate school to learn, study and practice […]


iGluR Meeting 2022

Published on 08.08.2022

re: iGluR2020  iGluR2021  iGluR2022 After 2-year break iGluR meeting has returned this year at Stony Brook, NY. It was hosted by Dr. Lonnie P. Wollmuth lab at SUNY at Stony Brook, NY. It began on Monday, August 1st with the ‘iGluR social’.  Marilynn and Lonnie hosted at their house and guests enjoyed kayaking, paddle boarding, horseshoes (at […]


Our lab got another journal cover!

Published on 06.16.2022

Themed Issue: Structure Guided Pharmacology of Membrane Proteins (BJP 75th Anniversary) Volume 179, Issue 14. Pages: 3483-3904 July 2022 Issue Edited by:  Gary Stephens, Arun Shukla


TRP2021 meeting at Lueven, Belguim

Published on 10.13.2021

Dr. Sobolevsky presented lecture «Structural basis of temperature sensation by the TRP channel TRPV3» at TRP2021 meeting (online), Lueven, Belgium. Click here for the talk.


Arthur and Kirill gave a talk at SBGrid webinar Series

Published on 10.08.2021

Dr. Arthur Neuberger and Dr. Kirill D. Nadezhdin shared a story «Structural mechanism of heat-induced opening of a temperature-sensitive TRP channel» from our lab and presented to the SBGrid community on October 5th, 2021. Their talks were excellent and we had a great turnout. You can find the YouTube recording here.


Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

Published on 10.04.2021

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian «for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.» Their research identified transient receptor potential (TRP) and PIEZO ion channels as the proteins that sense these ubiquitous stimuli. It all makes sense! The groundbreaking discoveries of the TRPV1, TRPM8 […]


Lab retreat

Published on 08.15.2021

Our lab had a blast kayaking on Hudson river at small lab retreat.


Squirrels Help Scientists Understand How We Sense Heat

Published on 05.14.2021

Our paper by Nadezhdin et al. was featured on Columbia University News room website. The first complete high-res image of a heat-sensing molecule in ground squirrels is helping researchers understand how we sense temperature and could lead to the development of new pain relievers. Ground squirrels, like other mammals, sense environmental temperatures with molecules called […]


Farewell Party for Appu

Published on 01.21.2020

It is time for Appu to say goodbye to one chapter in his life and hello to the next — an exciting new career opportunity as an Assistant Professor.


Crystallography in the 21st century. Reflections on Raj Rajashankar

Published on 11.14.2019

Reflections on Raj Rajashankar

The symposium on crystallography in the 21st century was dedicated to Dr. Kanagalaghatta (Raj) Rajashankar, who was the longtime Associate Director of the Northeastern Collaborative Access Team at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory.


For the first time, temperature-induced ion channel opening is captured structurally!

Published on 10.21.2019

For the first time, temperature-induced ion channel opening is captured structurally!

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels sense temperature in organisms ranging from yeast to human but the molecular mechanisms of thermosensation have been an enigma. In our new paper published in NSMB we present structures of the TRP channel TRPV3, which is predominantly expressed in skin keratinocytes, is implicated in thermo-sensation, nociception, itch, maintenance of the skin barrier, wound healing and hair growth, and is associated with numerous human skin diseases, including a genodermatosis known as Olmsted syndrome, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and rosacea.


Columbia’s new Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center

Published on 09.19.2019

Columbia University has opened a state-of-the-art center for cryo-EM facility in September 2019. Inside are the most advanced tools in the world for studying biology at the molecular scale. Nobel Laureate Professor Joachim Frank with Columbia officials opened the facility.


Structure of the Thermo-Sensitive TRP Channel TRP1 from the Alga Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii

Published on 09.16.2019

Alga Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii

Our structures of a new, uniquely folded, 2-fold symmetrical and highly temperature-sensitive TRP channel TRP1 from the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that opens in response to increased temperature and is positively regulated by the membrane lipid PIP2 (phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate) have been published in Nature Communications.


New PhD — Dr. Luke McGoldrick

Published on 08.21.2019

New PhD - Dr. Luke McGoldrick

Luke McGoldrick joined our lab in 2016 as a Integrated Program Graduate student. During his PhD training he was part of the ongoing research in TRP channels structure-function.


RICCEM 2019

Published on 08.20.2019

RICCEM 2019

Dr. Sobolevsky was an invited speaker at the Russian International Conference on Cryo-EM, Moscow, Russia, June 2-5, 2019. The title of the talk was «Structural and functional studies of vanilloid subtype TRP channels».


AMPA Receptor is the Molecule of the Month

Published on 07.15.2019

AMPA Receptor is the Molecule of the Month

AMPA receptor, with an inhibitor (red) bound to the glutamate-binding domains. The location of the cell membrane is shown schematically in gray. Nerve cells in our brain communicate with one another using small neurotransmitter molecules. These come in many shapes and sizes, such as acetylcholine, serotonin and endorphins, allowing the nervous system to shape the way neurons talk to one another. The amino acid glutamate is one of the most common neurotransmitters used to carry excitatory signals.


Dr. Sobolevsky visited 49th NIPS International Symposium

Published on 12.12.2018

NIPS symposium

The 49th NIPS international Symposium «ION CHANNELS: LOOKING BACK, SEEING AHEAD» was held at Okazaki, Japan in December 2018. As we are experiencing amazingly progressing world of bioscience, we can now obtain new information of molecular structure, protein-protein interaction, genetic regulation, biological functions and other aspects of ion channels.


iGluR retreat 2018, Pittsburgh, PA

Published on 08.07.2018

Dr. Sobolevsky at iGluR retreat 2018

This year iGluR retreat was held at University of Pittsburgh, July 31 – August 2. Dr. Alexander Sobolevsky presented the poster titled «Mechanisms of channel block in Calcium-Permeable AMPA receptors». This work was published in Neuron on August 16, 2018.


CMBS Integrated Program Retreat 2018

Published on 07.25.2018

Sobolevsky Lab at CMBS Integrated Program Retreat 2018

Luke presented his work on TRPV6 channel opening mechanism at Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences (CMBS) Columbia University Graduate Program Retreat 2018, Glen Cove Mansion, Glen Cove, NY.


2018 Ion Channels Gordon Research Conference

Published on 07.19.2018

GRC Ion Channels group photo

Dr. Alexander Sobolevsky presented a talk «Structural Mechanisms of Gating in Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors» at 2018 Ion Channels Gordon Research Conference at Mt. Holoyoke College, South Hadley, MA.


iGluR retreats

Published on 05.17.2018

iGluR retreat Pittsburgh PA 2018

The first ionotropic glutamate receptor retreat (iGluRetreat) was organized by Dr. Gabriela Popescu (University of Buffalo, NY) and Dr. Derek Bowie (McGill University, Montreal, Canada) and was held at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 2013.


DEAN’s award

Published on 05.15.2018

DEAN’s award

To be named DEAN’s award recipient is a tremendous accomplishment! Congratulations, Ed! Hooding ceremony, Columbia University Medical Center, May 13, 2018.


Ed Twomey on PhD

Published on 04.05.2018

Congratulations to Ed Twomey on PhD!

Here is the poster of the today’s PhD defense of Ed Twomey.