Ming Zhou

Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine

The main impetus behind my research program is the desire to understand how membrane proteins work at the molecular level, both to improve our understanding of biological mechanisms and to provide information on protein-ligand interactions of physiological and pharmacological significance. In particular, our focus is on two families of proteins, membrane transport proteins that facilitate transmembrane flux of ions and small molecules, and membrane-embedded enzymes that are involved in synthesis and modification of lipids, fatty acids, cholesterol and terpenoids. We have solved a number of novel structures of membrane proteins, and these structures have served as the basis for further investigations into their cellular and molecular functions.