2015年11月6日，北京大学现代农学院邀请到了美国科学院院士Natasha Raikheil教授来我校，为北京大学现代农业讲座系列开办本次讲座，本次讲座主题为“A drug-like molecule targets conserved EX070 to inhibit exocytosis and promote vacuole trafficking”，11月6日下午，北京大学第二教学楼107报告厅里座无虚席，演讲不仅吸引了北京大学本校学生，还有许多外校的学术也慕名而来聆听。Natasha Raikheil教授围绕本次讲座主题阐述了她的一下中心观点“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.”