Personal profile
Research interests
Research in the Che lab will be aimed at comprehensively characterizing and dissecting the molecular mechanisms of opioid receptor signaling. The goal is to gain an atomic-level understanding of opioid receptor activation, and to use this information to develop chemical and synthetic biologic tools (e.g., nanobodies) to ultimately lead to the development of safer, non-addictive pain medications. His work will integrate structural (e.g., X-ray, Cryo-EM) and pharmacological approaches, and leverage these data to generate subtype-specific novel chemicals as in vivo precision pharmacology probes to understand opioid receptor signaling spatiotemporally. These will be useful probes to interrogate signaling pathways and provide a platform for the discovery of new chemical and biological matter for potential therapeutic applications.
Available to Mentor:
- PhD Students
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Mechanistic insights into the therapeutic properties of delta opioid receptor
Bernhard, S. M., Chowdhury, S. R., Murata, T., Reinl, E. L., Ramos-Gonzalez, N., Denn, E., Appourchaux, K., Inoue, A., England, S. K., Fay, J. F., Majumdar, S., Chanda, B. & Che, T., 2026, In: Science Advances. 12, 13, p. 1-17 17 p., eaeb6737.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Differential Effects of Sodium on Agonist-Induced Conformational Transitions and Signaling at μ and κ Opioid Receptors
Kuijer, M. B., Fulton, C. J., Albert, T. L., Knobloch, P., Wang, J., Krumm, B. E., Che, T., Varga, B. R., Majumdar, S., Katritch, V., Gumpper, R. H., Kenakin, T., Huang, X. P. & Roth, B. L., Dec 16 2025, In: Biochemistry. 64, 24, p. 4746-4757 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
How Ligands Achieve Biased Signaling toward Arrestins
Jiang, Q. & Che, T., Mar 4 2025, In: Biochemistry. 64, 5, p. 967-977 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access -
Searching for Synthetic Opioid Rescue Agents. 2: Identification of an Ultra-Potent Synthetic Opioid Rescue Agent
Martin, J., Onyameh, E., Luo, D., Powell, J. W., Trivedi, R. R., Woloshin, E. J., Zhang, Y., Shaykin, J. D., Denehy, E. D., Alsum, A. R., Prantzalos, E., Jiang, Q., Che, T., Alilain, W. J., Turner, J. R., Bardo, M. T. & Prisinzano, T. E., Jun 26 2025, In: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 68, 12, p. 13057-13074 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Structure-guided design of partial agonists at an opioid receptor
Varga, B. R., Bernhard, S. M., El Daibani, A., Zaidi, S. A., Lam, J. H., Aguilar, J., Appourchaux, K., Nazarova, A. L., Kouvelis, A., Shinouchi, R., Hammond, H. R., Eans, S. O., Weinreb, V., Margolis, E. B., Fay, J. F., Huang, X. P., Pradhan, A., Katritch, V., McLaughlin, J. P. & Majumdar, S. & 1 others, , Dec 2025, In: Nature communications. 16, 1, 2518.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access10 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations