Personal Introduction:

• Dr. Zhou Chen received his Ph.D. degree from Auburn University, USA in 2019. Thereafter, he joined the Daniel L. Minor lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) for postdoctoral training, where his projects focused on the functional and structural studies of voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs). In 2024, Dr. Chen joined Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine as a principal investigator and the head of the Laboratory of Nonsynaptic Plasticity and Memory Encoding.

Research Interest:

• Inspired by the discovery of first calcium channel biogenesisintermediate captured from ER, i.e. EMC:Ca_V1.2/Ca_Vβ₃, during my postdoctoral training in the Minor lab, we wonder how neuronal ion channels, more specifically dynamic expression and functional regulation of these ion channels, modulate postsynaptic potentials (both excitatory and inhibitory) and subsequently affect memory encoding in mammals. Our long-term goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms of nonsynaptic plasticity and thereafter provide new insights for memory encoding.

Scientific Research Projects:

• National Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas), 2025-2027, Principal investigator.

• Shanghai Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas), 2025-2027, Principal investigator.

• Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Start-up funding, 2024-2030, Principal investigator.

Publications

1. Chen, Z., Mondal, A., Abderemane-Ali, F., Jang, S., Niranjan, S.,Montaño, J.L., Zaro, B.W., Minor, D.L.EMC chaperone-Ca_V structure reveals an ion channel assembly intermediate.Nature. 2023, 619: 410-419.

2. Chen, Z.#, Mondal, A.#, Minor, D.L. Structural basis for Ca_Vα₂δ:gabapentin binding. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2023, 30: 735-739.

3. Chen, Z.#, Zakrzewska, S.#, Hajare, H. S., Alvarez-Buylla, A., Abderemane-Ali, F., Bogan, M.,Ramirez, D., O’Connell, L.A., Du Bois, J., Minor, D. L. Definition of a saxitoxin (STX) binding code enables discovery and characterization of the Anuran saxiphilin family. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022,119(44):e2210114119.

4. Chen, Z.#, Zakrzewska, S.#, Hajare, H. S., Du Bois, J., Minor, D. L. Expression, purification, and characterization of anuran saxiphilins using thermofluor, fluorescence polarization, and isothermal titration calorimetry. STAR protocols. 2024,5(1): 102792.

5. Chen, Z., Minor, D. L. Electrosome assembly: Structural insights from high voltage-activated calcium channel (CaV) – chaperone interactions.Biochemical Society Transactions. 2025, 53(01): 215-223.

6. Zakrzewska, S., Nixon, S. A., Chen, Z., Hajare, H. S., Park, E. R., Mulcahy, J. V., Arlinghaus, K. M., Neu, E., Konovalov, K., Provasi, D., Leighfield, T. A., Filizola, M., Du Bois, J., Minor, D. L. Structural basis for saxitoxin congener binding and neutralization by anuran saxiphilins.Nature Communications. 2025, 16:3885.

7. Abderemane-Ali, F., Rossen, N. D., Kobiela, M. E., Craig, R. A., Garrison, C. E., Chen, Z., ... & Minor Jr, D. L. Evidence that toxin resistance in poison birds and frogs is not rooted in sodium channel mutations and may rely on “toxin sponge” proteins.J Gen Physiol. 2021, 153(9): e202112872.