主要研究神经信号传导过程，特别是与人类的正常生理功能和疾病发生发展息息相关的膜蛋白受体如GPCR、转运蛋白信号传递机制。运用结构生物学中常用的技术方法（冷冻电镜和X射线晶体），获取大分子的高清三维结构信息，并结合细胞生物学、生物化学以及计算机辅助模拟技术手段，探索信号识别传递与基因转录翻译的协调机理，为设计可靠高效的靶向性药物提供基础。

How do cells perceive and respond to extracellular stimuli? In humans, the biggest group of cellular membrane proteins (G-protein coupled receptors) are involved in recognition of numerous signals with diverse identities and initiate distinct signaling cascades. Different epigenetic molecular machineries within nucleus react to these conveyed signals and regulate gene transcription correspondingly. Such cooperation plays essential roles in normal physiology and human diseases. Our interests are to decipher mechanisms underlying the cross-talk between membrane receptors and epigenetic regulators, using a toolkit composed of structural biology (cryo-EM/X-ray crystallography), biochemistry and molecular biology, and computer assisted molecular dynamics simulations. 

1.Yuwei Wang^#, Pei Zhang^#, Yulin Chao^#, Zhini Zhu^#, Chuanhui Yang^#, Zixuan Zhou^#, Yaohui Li, Yonghui Long, Yuehua Liu, Dianfan Li, Sheng Wang*, Qianhui Qu*. Transport and inhibition mechanism for VMAT2-mediated synaptic vesicle loading of monoamines. Cell Research, 2024, 34, 47-57

2.Jingjing Hong^#, Tingting Li^#, Yulin Chao^#, Yidan Xu, Zhini Zhu, Zixuan Zhou, Weijie Gu, Qianhui Qu*, Dianfan Li*. Molecular basis of the inositol deacylase PGAP1 involved in quality control of GPI-AP biogenesis. Nature Communications, 2024, 15 (1), 8

3.Yidan Xu^#, Tingting Li^#, Zixuan Zhou^#, Jingjing Hong, Yulin Chao, Zhini Zhu, Ying Zhang, Qianhui Qu*, Dianfan Li*. Structures of substrates- and products-bound glycosylphophatidylinositol transamidase illuminate GPI-AP biogenesis. Nature Communications, 2023, 14 (1), 5520

4.Xu Zhang^#, Zixuan Zhou^#, Lin Dai, Yulin Chao, Zheng Liu, Mingdong Huang, Qianhui Qu*, Zhonghui Lin*. Cryo-EM structure of the RuvAB-Holiday junction intermediate complex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Frontiers in Plant Science, 2023, 14: 1139

5.Yidan Xu^#, Guowen Jia^#, Tingting Li^#, Zixuan Zhou^#, Yitian Luo, Yulin Chao, Juan Bao, Zhaoming Su*, Qianhui Qu*, Dianfan Li*. Molecular insights into the biogenesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor proteins. Nature Communications, 2022, 13 (1),2617

6.Yitian Luo^#, Guoyue Wan^#, Xiang Zhang^#, Xuan Zhou^#, Qiuwen Wang, Jialin Fan, Hongmin Cai, Liya Ma, Hailong Wu, Qianhui Qu*, Yao Cong*, Yun Zhao*, Dianfan Li*. Cryo-EM study of patched in lipid nanodisc suggests a structural basis for its clustering in caveolae. Structure, 2021, 29 (11),1286-1294. e6 

7.Qianhui Qu^#, Weijiao Huang^#, Deniz Aydin^#, Joseph M. Paggi^#, Alpay B. Seven^#, Haoqing Wang, Soumen Chakraborty, Tao Che, Jeffrey F. DiBerto, Michael J. Robertson, Asuka Inoue, Carl-Mikael Suomivuori, Bryan L. Roth, Susruta Majumdar*, Ron O. Dror*, Brian K. Kobilka*, Georgios Skiniotis*. Insights into distinct signaling profiles of the μOR activated by diverse agonists. Nature Chemical Biology 2023, 19 (4): 423–430

8.Abdelfattah Faouzi^#, Haoqing Wang^#, Saheem A. Zaidi^#, Tao Che^#, Jeffrey F. DiBerto^#, Qianhui Qu^#, Michael J. Robertson, Manish K. Madasu, Amal El Daibani, Balazs R. Varga, Kevin Appourchaux, Tiffany Zhang, Samuel T. Slocum, Shainnel O. Eans, Ream Al-Hasani, Ying Xian Pan, Bryan L. Roth, Jay P. McLaughlin, Georgios Skiniotis*, Vsevolod Katritch*, Brian K. Kobilka* and Susruta Majumdar*. Structure-based design of functionally selective bitopic ligands for the μ-opioid receptor. Nature 2023, 613 (7945): 767–774

9.Haoqing Wang^#, Florian Hetzer^#, Weijiao Huang^#, Qianhui Qu^#, Justin Meyerowitz, Jonas Kaindl, Harald Hübner, Georgios Skiniotis*, Brian K. Kobilka*, Peter Gmeiner*. Structure-based Evolution of G protein-biased μ-opioid Receptor Agonists. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022, 61(26),e202200269

10.Naotaka Tsutsumi^#, Shoji Maeda*^#, Qianhui Qu^#, Martin Vögele^#, Kevin M Jude, Carl-Mikael Suomivuori, Ouliana Panova, Deepa Waghray, Hideaki E Kato, Andrew Velasco, Ron O Dror, Georgios Skiniotis, Brian K Kobilka, K Christopher Garcia*. Atypical structural snapshots of human cytomegalovirus GPCR interactions with host G proteins. Science Advances, 2022, 8(3),eabl5442

11.Lei Han^#, Qianhui Qu^#, Deniz Aydin^#, Ouliana Panova, Michael J. Robertson, Yan Xu, Ron O. Dror, Georgios Skiniotis*, Liang Feng*. Structure and mechanism of the SGLT family of glucose transporters. Nature, 2022, 601 (7892), 274-279

12.Naotaka Tsutsumi^#, Qianhui Qu^#, Masa Mavri^#, Maibritt Baggesen, Shoji Maeda, Deepa Waghray, Christian Berg, BrianK. Kobilka, Mette M. Rosenkilde, Georgios Skiniotis, Christopher K Garcia. Structural basis for the constitutive activity and immunomodulatory properties of the Epstein-Barr virus-encoded G protein-coupled receptor BILF1. Immunity, 2021, 54 (7), 1405-1416. e7 

13.Weijiao Huang^#, Matthieu Masureel^#, Qianhui Qu^#, John Janetzko^#, Asuka Inoue, Khanh Nguyen, Hideaki Kato, Jeffrey Glenn, Michael Robertson, Georgios Skiniotis*, Brian K. Kobilka*. Structure of the Neurotensin Receptor 1 in complex with β-arrestin 1.  Nature, 2020, 579:303-308

14.Shoji Maeda^#, Qianhui Qu^#, Michael J. Robertson, Georgios Skiniotis*, Brian K. Kobilka*. Structures of the M1 and M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor/G-protein complexes.  Science, 2019, 364:552-557

15.Qianhui Qu^#, Qian Zhang^#, Lu Yang^#, Xiaofeng Zhu, Hong Liu. SET de-protects centromeric cohesion through inhibiting interaction of Sgo1 and cohesin. Journal of Cell Biology, 2019, 218 (8), 2514-2528

16.Qianhui Qu^#, Yohhei Takahashi^#, Yidai Yang, Hongli Hu, Yan Zhang, Joseph S Brunzelle, Jean-François Couture, Ali Shilatifard*, Georgios Skiniotis*. Structure and conformational dynamics of COMPASS histone H3K4 methyltransferase.  Cell, 2018, 174 (5), 1117-1126. e12