# Jian Yang (molecular biologist, Columbia University)
**Jian Yang** (杨建) is a molecular biologist known for his work on the structure, gating, and regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels and cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels. He was Assistant, Associate, and then Professor in the Department of Biological Science at Columbia University from 1997 to 2024, and has been a Senior Principal Investigator at the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and [Translation](https://www.edgepedia.org/translation) since 2024.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) He is not to be confused with Jian Yang, a molecular biologist at The University of Queensland, or with Jian Yang, a computer scientist at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Native name | 杨建[2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) |
| Field | Ion-channel structure, function, regulation, channelopathy, and drug discovery[3](https://biology.columbia.edu/content/jian-yang) |
| Signature work | [Structure of a eukaryotic cyclic-nucleotide-gated channel](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20819), *Nature*, 2017[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20819) |
| Training | PhD in Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, 1987–1991, under Bertil Hille[2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) |
| Postdoctoral training | Stanford with Richard W. Tsien, 1991–1993; HHMI/UCSF with Lily Y. Jan, 1994–1996[2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) |
| Columbia appointment | Department of Biological Science, 1997–2024[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) |
| Current position | Senior Principal Investigator, Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation, since 2024[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) |
## Field and research focus
His laboratory studies the structure, function, regulation, disease mechanisms, and drug discovery of three channel families: voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), [TRP channels](https://www.edgepedia.org/trp-channels), and cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels. VGCCs open in response to membrane depolarization and are vital for muscle contraction, neurotransmission, neurodevelopment, and gene expression; CNG channels convert light- and odorant-induced chemical signals into electrical signals in the eye and nose and are indispensable for vision and smell.[3](https://biology.columbia.edu/content/jian-yang) The lab combines molecular biology, biochemistry, patch-clamp recording, cryo-EM, and optical imaging.[3](https://biology.columbia.edu/content/jian-yang)
## Representative work
His [2017 Nature paper](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20819) reported a 3.5-Å-resolution single-particle cryo-EM structure of a CNG channel from *Caenorhabditis elegans* in the cGMP-bound open state, the first high-resolution structure of a full-length eukaryotic homotetrameric CNG channel.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) • [4](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20819) The structure revealed an unusual voltage-sensor-like domain that accounts for the channel's deficient voltage dependence, and a carboxy-terminal linker forming a gating ring that couples cyclic-nucleotide binding to the pore gate.[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20819) Its selectivity filter is lined by the carboxylate side chains of a functionally important glutamate and three rings of backbone carbonyls.[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20819)
Earlier work established how calcium channels select their ion. In his [1993 Nature paper](https://doi.org/10.1038/366158a0) on L-type Ca2+ channels (Nature 366(6451):158–161), systematic single amino-acid substitutions showed that all four conserved glutamates in the pore-lining repeats participate in high-affinity binding of Ca2+ or Cd2+, with the repeat III carboxylate making the strongest contribution.[5](https://europepmc.org/article/MED/8232554) The paper concluded that the prevailing model of Ca2+ permeation had to be modified to allow binding of two Ca2+ ions in close proximity, within the sphere of influence of the four glutamates.[5](https://europepmc.org/article/MED/8232554)
In [2002](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01118) his group was the first to discover that VGCCs are regulated by PI(4,5)P2, providing mechanistic insight into how Gq-coupled receptors regulate these channels.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) In 2004 his group was one of three that simultaneously solved the first crystal structure of the beta subunit of VGCCs.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) In 2014 the group discovered age- and activity-dependent midchannel proteolysis of the alpha 1 subunit of neuronal L-type VGCCs.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) A 2020 Nature Structural & Molecular Biology paper, in collaboration with the Frank lab, presented closed- and open-state atomic cryo-EM structures of the full-length *C. elegans* cGMP-activated channel TAX-4 reconstituted in lipid nanodiscs, addressing allosteric gating and CNG channel-related channelopathies.[6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7354226/)
## Career record
Yang earned a BS in Biology at [Peking University](https://www.edgepedia.org/peking-university) (1978–1982) and an MS at the Shanghai Institute of Brain Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1982–1985), before his PhD at the University of Washington (1987–1991) under [Bertil Hille](https://www.edgepedia.org/bertil-hille).[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) • [2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) He was a postdoctoral fellow in Stanford's Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology with [Richard W. Tsien](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-w-tsien) from 1991 to 1993, and at HHMI and UCSF with Lily Y. Jan from 1994 to 1996.[2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) • [7](https://m.ais.cn/mentor/mentorDetail/6d0160c0-5e3c-11ec-b045-a85e45a23623)
He joined Columbia University as an Assistant Professor in January 1997 and served there through 2024, rising to Associate Professor and Professor.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) He was promoted to Associate Professor in April 2002.[2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) One record dates his tenure to June 2004,[2](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175) and another dates his promotion to Professor to June 2009.[7](https://m.ais.cn/mentor/mentorDetail/6d0160c0-5e3c-11ec-b045-a85e45a23623) From 2011 to 2023 he was also a Visiting Investigator at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian) Since 2024 he has been a Senior Principal Investigator at the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian)
## Laboratory and current research
The Columbia lab also screened compounds from traditional Chinese medicines that activate or inhibit its channel targets, including a clinical and mechanistic study of Bingpian, a topical analgesic, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine in 2017.[3](https://biology.columbia.edu/content/jian-yang) A 2024 conformational-landscape study traces an allosteric conformational-change wave from the cyclic nucleotide-binding domain, 50–60 Å from the activation gate, through the C-linker and gating ring to the S6 cavity gate.[8](https://doi.org/10.14293/cgmp.24000054.v1)
## Honors and funding
The NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funded his Columbia project "Structural basis of TRPC channel function and regulation" as an R01 running from 1 July 1997 to 29 February 2012, with a fiscal year 2010 total cost of $348,666.[9](https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R01-NS045383-13)
## Recent developments
In 2024 Yang left Columbia after 27 years and moved to the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation as a Senior Principal Investigator, ending his Visiting Investigator role at the Kunming Institute of Zoology in 2023.[1](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian)
## References
1. [Jian Yang - Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation](https://smart.org.cn/en/faculty/yangjian)
2. [Jian Yang (杨建) Ph.D. - 生物行](https://www.bioguider.com/m/view.php?aid=39175)
3. [Jian Yang - Columbia Department of Biological Sciences](https://biology.columbia.edu/content/jian-yang)
4. [Structure of a eukaryotic cyclic-nucleotide-gated channel | Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20819)
5. [Molecular determinants of Ca2+ selectivity and ion permeation in L-type Ca2+ channels (Europe PMC)](https://europepmc.org/article/MED/8232554)
6. [Mechanism of ligand activation of a eukaryotic cyclic nucleotide-gated channel (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7354226/)
7. [杨建 - 艾思科蓝 mentor record](https://m.ais.cn/mentor/mentorDetail/6d0160c0-5e3c-11ec-b045-a85e45a23623)
8. [Conformational landscape of cGMP activation of the human cone photoreceptor CNG channel](https://doi.org/10.14293/cgmp.24000054.v1)
9. [Structural basis of TRPC channel function and regulation (NIH R01-NS045383-13)](https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R01-NS045383-13)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in structural biology, biochemistry, and biophysics › Membrane proteins and ion channels › Ion channel biophysicists*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license