2015年11月6日，北京大學(xué)現(xiàn)代農(nóng)學(xué)院邀請到了美國科學(xué)院院士Natasha Raikheil教授來我校，為北京大學(xué)現(xiàn)代農(nóng)業(yè)講座系列開辦本次講座，本次講座主題為“A drug-like molecule targets conserved EX070 to inhibit exocytosis and promote vacuole trafficking”，11月6日下午，北京大學(xué)第二教學(xué)樓107報(bào)告廳里座無虛席，演講不僅吸引了北京大學(xué)本校學(xué)生，還有許多外校的學(xué)術(shù)也慕名而來聆聽。Natasha Raikheil教授圍繞本次講座主題闡述了她的一下中心觀點(diǎn)“The exocyst complex regulates the last steps of exocytosis, which is essential to organisms across kingdoms. In humans, its disfunction is correlated with several significant diseases such as diabetes and cancer progression. Investigation of the dynamic regulation of the evolutionarily conserved exocyst-related processes using mutants in genetically tractable organisms such as Arabidopsis thaliana is limited by the lethality or the severity of phenotypes. We discovered that the small molecule Endosidin2 (ES2) transiently arrests the EXO70 subunit of the exocyst complex, resulting in inhibition of exocytosis and endosomal recycling in both plant and human cells and enhancement of plant vacuolar trafficking. An EXO70 protein with a C-terminal truncation results in dominant ES2 resistance, uncovering possible distinct regulatory roles for the N-terminus and C-terminus of the protein. This study provides not only new insights into the novel features of the exocyst complex but also offers a potentially new target for drugs aimed at addressing human disease.”