Zhengyueqin

Dr. Zheng completed his undergraduate studies at University of Science and Technology of China, in 2011. He earned his Ph.D. from Georgia State University, USA, in 2017, under the guidance of Professor Dr. Binghe Wang. From 2018 to 2020, he conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, collaborating with Professor Dr. Daniel Kohane (Harvard) and Professor Dr.  Robert Langer (MIT). In June 2020, he returned to China and joined China Pharmaceutical University.

Throughout his academic and professional journey, Dr. Zheng has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the National High-level Talents Program, Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professor, the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad, and the Graduate Student Gold Award from Georgia State University. He has authored over 40 papers, with several published as first or corresponding author in  Nature Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

1.        Zheng Y.;# Ji, X.;# Yu, B.; Ji, K.; Gallo, D.; Csizmadia, E.; Zhu, M.; Roy Choudhury, M.; De La Cruz, L.; Chittavong, V.; Pan, Z.; Yuan, Z.; Otterbein, L. E.; Wang, B.*, Enrichment-triggered Prodrug Activation Demonstrated through Mitochondria-targeted Delivery of Doxorubicin and Carbon Monoxide. Nature Chemistry, 2018, 10, 787-794.

2.        Zheng, Y.; # Yu, B.; # Li, Z.; # Yuan, Z.; Lefer, D.J.; Wang, S.; Organ, C.L, Trivedi, R.K.; Wang, B.*, A Novel Esterase-sensitive Prodrug Approach for Controllable Delivery of Persulfide Species. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2017, 56, 11749-11753.

3.        Zheng, Y.; Yu, B.; Ji, K.; Pan, Z.; Chittavong, V.; Wang, B.*, Esterase-sensitive prodrugs with tunable release rates and direct generation of hydrogen sulfide. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2016, 55, 4514-4518. (Cover page)

4.        Yu, B.; # Zheng, Y.; *,# Yuan, Z.; Li, S.; Zhu, H.; De La Cruz, L.; Zhang, J.; Ji, K.; Wang, S. Wang, B.*. Toward Direct Protein S-Persulfidation: A Prodrug Approach that Directly Delivers Hydrogen Persulfide. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2017, 140, 30-33. 

5.        Yuan, Z.;# Zheng, Y.;# Yu, B.; Wang, S.; Yang, X.; Wang, B.*. Esterase-Sensitive Glutathione Persulfide Donor. Organic Letters, 2018, 20 ,6364–6367.

6.        Zheng, Y.; Yu, B.; De La Cruz, L.; Roy Choudhury, M.; Anifowose, A.; Wang, B.*, Toward Hydrogen Sulfide–Based Therapeutics: Critical Drug Delivery and Developability Issues. Medicinal Research Reviews, 2018, 38, 57-100.

7.        Zheng, Y.; # Duan, Y.; # Ji, K.; Wang, R.; Wang, B.*, Tuning the reaction rates of fluoride probes for detection in aqueous solution. RSC Advances, 2016, 6, 25242 -25245.

8.        Zheng, Y.; Ji, X.; Ji, K.; Wang, B.*, Hydrogen sulfide prodrugs-a review. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. B, 2015, 5, 367.

9.        Fang, Y.; # Zheng, Y.; # Wang, Z.*, Direct Base-Assisted C–N Bond Formation between Aryl Halides and Aliphatic Tertiary Amines under Transition-Metal-Free Conditions. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2012, 1495. (#These authors contributed equally. *Corresponding author)

10.    Zhang, W.; Harty, B.; Zheng, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Li, X.; Wang, D.; Kohane, D. S. *, Permeation of polyethylene glycols across the tympanic membrane. Giant, 2021, 6, 100057.

11.    Zhang, W.; Ji, T.; Li, Y.;  Zheng, Y.; Mehta, M.;  Zhao, C.; Liu, A.; Kohane, D. S. * Light-triggered release of conventional local anesthetics from a macromolecular prodrug for on-demand local anesthesia. Nature communications, 2020, 11 (1), 1-8.

12.    Zhang, W.; Ji, T.; Lyon, S.; Mehta, M.; Zheng, Y.; Deng, X.; Liu, A.; Shagan, A.; Mizrahi, B.; Kohane, D. S. * Functionalized Multiarmed Polycaprolactones as Biocompatible Tissue Adhesives. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020, 12, 17314-17320.

13.    Zhu, L., Huo A., Chen Y., Bai X., Cao C. *, Zheng Y. *, Guo W.*; A ROS reservoir based on a polyoxometalate and metal-organic framework hybrid for efficient bacteria eradication and wound healing. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 476, 146613.

14.    Zhu, L., Huo A., Sun Y., Chen Y., Cao C. *, Zheng Y. *, Guo W.*; Enhanced Antibacterial And Wound Healing Using A Metal‐Organic Cluster Inspired by Artificial Photosynthesis. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2023, 2302087

The research focus of our research group lies in the development and application of novel chemical biology approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

1.Detection and precise intervention of the redox homeostasis of sulfides in biological systems: Sulfur, as a crucial element involved in the regulation of life's redox processes, is closely associated with the onset and progression of major diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and age-related disorders. Post-translational modifications of sulfur-containing amino acids at specific sites on proteins, such as sulfenylation (RSOH), S-nitrosylation (RSNO), persulfidation (RSSH), and glutathionylation (RSSG), directly influence or alter protein structure and function, thereby modulating the redox homeostasis within living organisms. However, current research on this homeostasis lacks chemical tools for real-time rapid detection and precise interference. One of the main research directions of our group is to develop novel chemical methods to detect and precisely control the redox states of protein thiols, and to explore the physiological mechanisms of related signal transduction. This research aims to develop new strategies for treating diseases such as heart failure and stroke.

2. Development of novel bioorthogonal chemistry for disease diagnosis and drug delivery: Bioorthogonal chemistry, a rapidly evolving field, has been widely applied in recent years. Our group is developing novel click-release chemistry to provide new strategies for the rapid detection of diseases and improving the pharmacokinetics of drugs.

3.Development of long-acting selective sensory nerve-blocking local anesthetics: Local anesthetics are among the most commonly used drugs in clinical practice. However, their non-selective inhibitory effects on both motor and sensory nerves limit their clinical utility. Our group employs multidisciplinary approaches combining pharmacy, chemistry, and molecular biology to develop novel local anesthetics that are safe, long-acting, and selectively block sensory nerves. We also study their application in painless childbirth and the treatment of chronic pain disorders.

National High-level Talents Program,

Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professor,