Congratulations to Jin Ye being awarded the 2024 BMB Postdoctoral Research Discovery and Innovation Award!

Dr. Jin Ye is a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Dr. Weikai Li in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Ye received a B.A. in Biotechnology from Northeast Agricultural University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Science and Technology of China, where his work focused on the mechanistic and functional studies of Ankyrin-G mediated protein complex in neuronal polarity maintenance and signal transmission.

During his postdoctoral training at the Li lab, his work mainly focuses on structural and mechanistic studies of vesicular neurotransmitter transporters. He has determined several structures of human vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) in cytoplasmic-open and vesicular-open conformations, in unbound form and in complex with four monoamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine), the Parkinsonism-inducing MPP+, the psychostimulant amphetamine, and the antihypertensive drug reserpine.

Dr. Ye’s study answers the long-lasting questions about how VMATs accumulate monoamines to extremely high concentrations within storage vesicles, how they balance specificity and promiscuity in recognizing a variety of monoamines, and how they interact with the neurotoxins, antihypertensive drugs, and psychostimulants. These insights extend to the mechanisms and pharmacological interactions of the entire SLC18 family of vesicular transporters, paving the way for innovative strategies in treating neurodegenerative disorders, enhancing neurological imaging, and combating substance abuse.