Title: Regulation of SLO-2 Potassium Channel by an RNA Editing Pathway

Time: May 27, 2025 (Tuesday) 13:30-14:30

Venue: 2nd Floor Multi-functional Hall, Wang Changlai Building, Ningbo University Health Science Center

Speaker Profile: Chen Baijun

Dr. Chen Baijun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas (USA). His research focuses on the identification and characterization of novel molecular regulators of SLO-2 potassium channel function in Caenorhabditis elegans, as well as investigations into reproductive aging mechanisms. He has published several high-impact papers in journals such as Nature Communications.

His recent work unveils that SLO-2 function depends on the RNA-editing-related gene ADR-1. Notably, ADR-1 enhances SLO-2 activity not through direct editing of slo-2 transcripts but by editing scyl-1 transcripts, which encode the C. elegans ortholog of mammalian SCYL1. In adr-1 mutants, scyl-1 mRNA levels are significantly reduced due to deficient RNA editing at a single adenosine site in its 3'-UTR. SCYL-1 physically interacts with SLO-2 in neurons, and knockout of scyl-1 reduces the single-channel open probability (Po) of neuronal SLO-2 by ~50% compared to wild-type. Furthermore, heterologous expression of human SCYL1 doubles the Po of human Slo2.2/Slack channels. These findings establish SCYL-1/SCYL1 as an evolutionarily conserved regulator of SLO-2 channel activity.