December 9, 2025
\n12:10\u20131:10 p.m. PST
\nSAC 347 or Zoom<\/a>
\nMeeting ID: 996 3869 9725
\nPasscode: 149255<\/h3>\nSpeaker: Min Han, PhD
\n<\/strong>Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder<\/p>\n![\"Min](\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-medicine\/uploads\/sites\/3023\/2025\/11\/Min-Han-396x483.jpg\")
Min Han, PhD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMin Han is a distinguished professor in the department of MCDB at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received his BS degree from Peking University in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1988 from the Molecular Biology Institute of UCLA, where he explored histone functions in gene regulation under the guidance of Michael Grunstein. He then worked under Paul Stenberg at Caltech to study the regulation of developmental decisions using the genetics of C. elegans. Dr. Han started his own lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1991 and was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1997 to 2018. He has received numerous awards\/scholarships in his career and was elected to be a member of American Academy of Arts and Science in 2024.<\/p>\n
Abstract for Presentation:<\/h4>\n
Riding on the philosophy of using animal models to explore novel biological problems related to human health and the adventurous tendencies of trainees, our lab has made numerous changes in research directions in the past 34 years, often into fields that were foreign to us. Following the exploration of lipid functions and novel nutrient-sensing mechanisms, several researchers in the lab have taken innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to uncover the unexpected “nutrient” value of two bacterial metabolites. One of them, an E. coli-produced siderophore called enterobactin, was found to benefit animal physiology by transporting iron into intestinal cells. The other, muropeptides derived from the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall, was found to enter the mitochondria of intestinal cells of animals to promote oxidative phosphorylation and suppress mitochondrial stress. I will describe our recent efforts to analyze the mechanisms underlying these roles and to explore their potential usage to treat human health conditions.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Presented by Washington State University \u2013 Department of Translational Medicine & Physiology From Worm Genetics to Human Health: Discovery and Exploration of the Beneficial Roles of Bacterial Metabolites December 9, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[66],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"event_city":"Spokane","event_state":"WA","event_venue":"SAC 347","event_organizer":"","event_organizer_email":"","event_organizer_phone":"","event_organizer_website":"","event_website":"","event_cost":"","event_excerpt":"Presented by Washington State University \u2013 Department of Translational Medicine & Physiology\nFrom Worm Genetics to Human Health: Discovery and Exploration of the Beneficial Roles of Bacterial Metabolites\nDecember 9, 2025\n12:10\u20131:10 p.m. PST\nSAC 347 or Zoom\nMeeting ID: 996 3869 9725\nPasscode: 149255\nSpeaker: Min Han, PhD\nDistinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder\nMin Han, PhD\nMin Han is a distinguished professor in the department of MCDB at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received his BS degree from Peking University in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1988 from the Molecular Biology Institute of UCLA, where he explored histone functions in gene regulation under the guidance of Michael Grunstein. He then worked under Paul Stenberg at Caltech to study the regulation of developmental decisions using the genetics of C. elegans. Dr. Han started his own lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1991 and was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1997 to 2018. He has received numerous awards\/scholarships in his career and was elected to be a member of American Academy of Arts and Science in 2024.\nAbstract for Presentation:\nRiding on the philosophy of using animal models to explore novel biological problems related to human health and the adventurous tendencies of trainees, our lab has made numerous changes in research directions in the past 34 years, often into fields that were foreign to us. Following the exploration of lipid functions and novel nutrient-sensing mechanisms, several researchers in the lab have taken innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to uncover the unexpected “nutrient” value of two bacterial metabolites. One of them, an E. coli-produced siderophore called enterobactin, was found to benefit animal physiology by transporting iron into intestinal cells. The other, muropeptides derived from the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall, was found to enter the mitochondria of intestinal cells of animals to promote oxidative phosphorylation and suppress mitochondrial stress. I will describe our recent efforts to analyze the mechanisms underlying these roles and to explore their potential usage to treat human health conditions.\n\u00a0\n ","start_date":"2025-12-09 12:10:00","end_date":"2025-12-09 13:10:00","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events\/35122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events\/35122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35127,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events\/35122\/revisions\/35127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35122"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=35122"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=35122"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=35122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder<\/p>\n
Min Han is a distinguished professor in the department of MCDB at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received his BS degree from Peking University in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1988 from the Molecular Biology Institute of UCLA, where he explored histone functions in gene regulation under the guidance of Michael Grunstein. He then worked under Paul Stenberg at Caltech to study the regulation of developmental decisions using the genetics of C. elegans. Dr. Han started his own lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1991 and was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1997 to 2018. He has received numerous awards\/scholarships in his career and was elected to be a member of American Academy of Arts and Science in 2024.<\/p>\n
Abstract for Presentation:<\/h4>\n
Riding on the philosophy of using animal models to explore novel biological problems related to human health and the adventurous tendencies of trainees, our lab has made numerous changes in research directions in the past 34 years, often into fields that were foreign to us. Following the exploration of lipid functions and novel nutrient-sensing mechanisms, several researchers in the lab have taken innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to uncover the unexpected “nutrient” value of two bacterial metabolites. One of them, an E. coli-produced siderophore called enterobactin, was found to benefit animal physiology by transporting iron into intestinal cells. The other, muropeptides derived from the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall, was found to enter the mitochondria of intestinal cells of animals to promote oxidative phosphorylation and suppress mitochondrial stress. I will describe our recent efforts to analyze the mechanisms underlying these roles and to explore their potential usage to treat human health conditions.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Presented by Washington State University \u2013 Department of Translational Medicine & Physiology From Worm Genetics to Human Health: Discovery and Exploration of the Beneficial Roles of Bacterial Metabolites December 9, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[66],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"event_city":"Spokane","event_state":"WA","event_venue":"SAC 347","event_organizer":"","event_organizer_email":"","event_organizer_phone":"","event_organizer_website":"","event_website":"","event_cost":"","event_excerpt":"Presented by Washington State University \u2013 Department of Translational Medicine & Physiology\nFrom Worm Genetics to Human Health: Discovery and Exploration of the Beneficial Roles of Bacterial Metabolites\nDecember 9, 2025\n12:10\u20131:10 p.m. PST\nSAC 347 or Zoom\nMeeting ID: 996 3869 9725\nPasscode: 149255\nSpeaker: Min Han, PhD\nDistinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder\nMin Han, PhD\nMin Han is a distinguished professor in the department of MCDB at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received his BS degree from Peking University in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1988 from the Molecular Biology Institute of UCLA, where he explored histone functions in gene regulation under the guidance of Michael Grunstein. He then worked under Paul Stenberg at Caltech to study the regulation of developmental decisions using the genetics of C. elegans. Dr. Han started his own lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1991 and was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1997 to 2018. He has received numerous awards\/scholarships in his career and was elected to be a member of American Academy of Arts and Science in 2024.\nAbstract for Presentation:\nRiding on the philosophy of using animal models to explore novel biological problems related to human health and the adventurous tendencies of trainees, our lab has made numerous changes in research directions in the past 34 years, often into fields that were foreign to us. Following the exploration of lipid functions and novel nutrient-sensing mechanisms, several researchers in the lab have taken innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to uncover the unexpected “nutrient” value of two bacterial metabolites. One of them, an E. coli-produced siderophore called enterobactin, was found to benefit animal physiology by transporting iron into intestinal cells. The other, muropeptides derived from the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall, was found to enter the mitochondria of intestinal cells of animals to promote oxidative phosphorylation and suppress mitochondrial stress. I will describe our recent efforts to analyze the mechanisms underlying these roles and to explore their potential usage to treat human health conditions.\n\u00a0\n ","start_date":"2025-12-09 12:10:00","end_date":"2025-12-09 13:10:00","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events\/35122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events\/35122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35127,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events\/35122\/revisions\/35127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35122"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=35122"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=35122"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=35122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}