Lei Zheng

Dr. Lei Zheng is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, specializing in structural biology of membrane transporters and phospholipid metabolism. His research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of calcium cation antiporter proteins (CaCAs) and phospholipid metabolic systems through X-ray crystallography and biochemical approaches.

• PhD: University of Bern, Switzerland
• Postdoctoral Fellow: Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
• Graduate Program Affiliation: Molecular and Translational Biology

Dr. Zheng's laboratory investigates two critical membrane protein systems:

• Calcium Cation Antiporters (CaCAs): Studying Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCXs) and their conserved structural motifs, including transmembrane helices and regulatory domains that control ion exchange.
• Phospholipid Metabolism: Exploring how membrane-embedded enzymes select and catalyze phospholipid substrates in hydrophobic environments, particularly in bacterial systems like the LplT/Aas complex.

Recent structural studies highlight his work on:

• Ca2+ transport mechanisms and selectivity in antiporters
• Regulatory domain interactions in calcium homeostasis
• Lysophospholipid translocation pathways in Gram-negative bacteria
• Dual-substrate accessing mechanisms in transporter proteins

His research has implications for understanding calcium signaling in cardiac and neuronal tissues, bacterial membrane protection against host defenses, and general phospholipid metabolic processes. Though no specific awards are mentioned, his work has been published in high-impact journals covering structural biology, membrane protein function, and lipid metabolism.