Scholar Spotlight: Jie Sun
“I use mass spectrometry to ‘take pictures’ of proteins within our cells so we can see how they look when they work and how they change in disease.”
Jie Sun
Assistant Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology
My lab develops mass spectrometry-based structural proteomics, such as chemical footprinting approaches, to study the structure and conformational dynamics of membrane proteins and other disease-related proteins in environments close to their native state, including live cells.
We are finally able to see how the targeted membrane proteins behave in real biological contexts rather than in artificial systems. This opens up new paths to understanding diseases and discovering better therapeutic drugs.
Why I Do What I Do
I have always been fascinated by how molecules shape life. In graduate school, I discovered mass spectrometry and was amazed by its power to answer structural questions that are difficult for traditional methods. That experience led me to focus on membrane proteins—some of the most important yet understudied drug targets—and to develop tools that reveal how they function inside cells.
Currently Working On
We are developing “native footprinting” methods that capture how disease-related proteins, such as those involved in cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, change shape and interact with their environment. This work could provide new molecular insights that guide therapeutic development.