University of Washington-Seattle Campus · PharmacologyChronoCardia Lab
Ning Zheng · Seattle, Washington
Research Focus
Dr. Ning Zheng's lab focuses on understanding how heart rhythms are regulated at the molecular level. The team uses advanced imaging techniques to study proteins called sodium and calcium channels, which are crucial for heart cell function. By investigating their structure and function, especially in the context of mutations that cause arrhythmias, they aim to improve antiarrhythmic drug design for safer and more effective treatments.
sodium channelscalcium channelsantiarrhythmic drugsarrhythmiasmolecular structure
Research Aims
4AIM 01Determine structures of sodium channels in various states to understand ion selectivity.
AIM 02Investigate drug-receptor complexes to reveal structural differences among antiarrhythmic drugs.
AIM 03Analyze the effects of mutations associated with cardiac diseases on channel function.
AIM 04Explore the impact of Timothy Syndrome mutations on calcium channels.
Skills the Lab Values
X-ray crystallographycryo-electron microscopymolecular modelingprotein purificationmutagenesis
Output against the department
Publications253top 32% of dept.147th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations26ktop 12% of dept.56th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.