The Zhang lab of Structural Immunology will move to the Van Andel Institute in August 2024. We have multiple positions open now. Contact us for details!

We are fascinated by the complex and elegant dance at the molecular level in the immune system during pathogen infection and cancer development. These processes hold endless possibilities for exploring and understanding the workings of our immune system. If you share our passion for unraveling the mysteries of immune-pathogen interactions, we welcome you to join our team and embark on an exciting journey of discovery.

-the macromolecular machine (NAIP/NLRC4 inflammasome) formed upon bacteria infection initiates a series of inflammatory responses.

Lab News

  • Apr 29th, 2024. We are excited to welcome Taihao Yang to join the lab as a postdoc fellow!

  • Sep 1st, 2023. A warm welcome to our graduate student, Yixiong (Kevin) Han, to PBMS!

  • May 31, 2023. Congratulations to Liman Zhang for receiving the Outstanding Research Award from our dear CPB department!

  • Feb 1st, 2023. We are excited to welcome Dylan Lefor, Research Assistant II, join the lab!

  • Jan 5th, 2023. We are glad to share our structure of unliganded NAIP5, out today at NSMB. We surprisingly observed an unexpected process of NAIP activation - different from the auto-inhibited conformation of inactive NLRC4, unliganded NAIP5 adopts a wide-open conformation, thus ligand binding is not break the auto-inhibition, but rather builds the active conformation by aligning multiple domains together to recruit NLRC4, trigger NLRC4 conformational change, and stabilize the NAIP/NLRC4 complex. We think the wide-open conformation of NAIP protein serves as a safeguard mechanism to prevent inflammasome auto-activation. PDF: https://rdcu.be/c2P7c 

  • Oct 24th, 2022. The Zhang lab is excited to have a new Research Associate, Jiaqi (Jessie) Guo, join the lab. Welcome, Jessie!

  • May 31th, 2022. Congratulations to Jianhao Cao and Grady Nash, for their review paper “Structural mechanisms of inflammasome regulation revealed by cryo-EM studies” published in Current Opinion in Structural Biology!

  • Mar 7th, 2022. Congratulations to Grady Nash and Bhaskar Paidimuddala, for their review paper “Structural aspects of the MHC expression control system” published in Biophysical Chemistry!

  • Dec 15th, 2021. We received our first R01 grant! Thank you, NIAID for supporting our research toward understanding the structural mechanisms of pathogen infection and immune responses!

  • Sep 20th, 2021. Welcome Grady Nash, Research Assistant II, join the lab!

  • Oct 25th, 2020. Congrats to Dr. Liman Zhang for winning the New Investigator Grant from Medical Research Foundation!

  • March 1st, 2020. Welcome, Ivan Rodriguez Siordia, a rotation student, to join the lab!

  • Jan 13rd, 2020. Zhang lab welcomes our second postdoc, Jianhao Cao!

  • Jan 1st, 2020. Zhang lab welcomes our first postdoc, Bhaskar Paidimuddala!

  • Jan 1st, 2020. Happy new year! The Zhang lab opened!!