CIMR-Scott Hansen

Research Group

Scott Hansen

shansen(at)cimrbj.ac.cn

Associate Investigator

shansen(at)cimrbj.ac.cn

B.S. in Chemistry, Utah State University, USA

M.S. in Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, USA

Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, USA

Work Experience

2024-present

Associate Investigator, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China

2024-present

Professor, Capital Medical University, China

2018-2022

Associate Professor, Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, Scripps Research, USA

2012-2018

Assistant Professor, Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, Scripps Research, USA

2012

Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, USA (Advisor: Loren Walensky)

2005-2012

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), USA (Advisor: Rod MacKinnon)

Research Direction

The Hansen Laboratory at CIMR focuses on studying the signaling of excitable cells in their native three-dimensional state to better understand the molecular basis of human disease. By investigating these molecular mechanisms, we aim to elucidate disease progression and develop therapies to prevent or mitigate its impact.

Major Research Projects

1. Establishing the molecular basis for membrane-mediated anesthesia using super-resolution imaging and spatial biology.

2. Investigating the molecular role of cholesterol in driving inflammatory diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and chronic pain.

3. Developing non-addictive analgesics (pain medications) using novel drug discovery assays.

4. Uncovering the molecular basis of membrane-mediated mechanosensation at low thresholds.

Major Contributions

1. Identified a membrane-mediated mechanism of anesthetic action in mammalian cells and in fruit fly (PNAS, 2020)

2. Established a membrane-mediated mechanism of mechanosensation regulating a potassium channel (eLife, 2024; Nature Communications, 2016)

3. Identified astrocyte cholesterol as a regulator of amyloid production in Alzheimer’s Disease (PNAS, 2021)

4. Demonstrated that signaling lipids act as direct agonists of ion channels (BBA, 2016; Nature, 2011)

Representative Publications *：Co-first author; #：Co-corresponding author

Petersen EN, Pavel MA, Hansen SS, Gudheti M, Ferris HA, Murphy KR, Ja WW, Jorgensen EM, Hansen SB. Mechanical activation of TWIK-related potassium channel by nanoscopic movement and rapid second messenger signaling. eLife, 2024, 12: RP89465. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.89465

Hansen SB, Wang H. The shared role of cholesterol in neuronal and peripheral inflammation. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2023, 249: 108486. DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2023.108486

Wang H, Yuan Z, Pavel MA, Jablonski SM, Jablonski J, Hobson R, Valente S, Reddy CB, Hansen SB. The role of high cholesterol in SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. The Journal of biological chemistry, 2023, 299: 104763. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104763

Wang H, Kulas J, Wang C., Holtzman DA, Ferris HA, Hansen SB. Regulation of beta-amyloid production in neurons by astrocyte-derived cholesterol. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021, 118: e2102191118. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2102191118

Pavel MA, Petersen EN, Lerner RA, Hansen SB. Studies on the mechanism of membrane mediated anesthesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020, 117: 13757–13766. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2004259117

Petersen EN, Chung HW, Nayebosadri A, Hansen SB. Kinetic disruption of lipid rafts is a mechanosensor for phospholipase D. Nature communications, 2016, 7: DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13873

Hansen SB, Tao X, MacKinnon R. Structural basis of PIP2 activation of the classical inward rectifier K+ channel Kir2.2. Nature, 2011, 477: 495-498. DOI: 10.1038/nature10370