Lab News

• New preprint from the lab – Temperature reshapes TRPM4 pharmacologyFebruary 3, 2026

  We show that ligand-binding pockets thought to be structurally rigid can display temperature-dependent ligand recognition, revealing an underappreciated role of physiological temperature in biophysical studies and drug development. This was a great team effort—thanks to everyone involved!
  Link to the preprint.

• Welcome to our undergraduate researchersJanuary 25, 2026

  We are excited to welcome the undergraduate students who have joined the lab over the past year:
  
  Sophia Du — joined in May 2025
  Tracy Liang — joined in September 2025
  Rita Yu — joined in October 2025
  Nathan Kim — joined in January 2026

• Our new publication identifies TRPM4 as the target of a widely used laxativeJanuary 9, 2026

  Published today in Nature Communications: the laxative bisacodyl and its active metabolite directly activate TRPM4 to regulate intestinal fluid homeostasis. A great collaboration with Dr. Cao’s lab at China Pharmaceutical University!

  

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Latest Papers

Temperature and intrinsic Ca²⁺ reshape TRPM4 pharmacology
Hu J, Ievleva S, Park SJ, Lee J, Cheng J, O’Dea G, Sheng J, Du J^#, Lü W^# (2026) bioRxiv.

Noncanonical calcium-independent TRPM4 activation governs intestinal fluid homeostasis
Liu Y^$, Hu J^$, Xue C^$, Huang W^$, Ievleva S, Lü W^#, Du J^#, Cao Z^# (2026) Nature Communications.

A single allosteric site merges activation, modulation and inhibition in TRPM5
Ruan Z, Lee J, Li Y, Orozco I, Du J^#, Lü W^# (2026) Nature Chemical Biology.

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