SEMINAR

Protein Research in China

Abstract
As a developing country, protein research has been greatly emphasized in the past and in the current. What I plan to discuss about include the following aspects: the first theory on protein denaturziation; the total synthesis of bovine insulin; the National Protein Research Plan of 2006-2020; the major representative Chinese institutions working on proteins; history of the Chinese Protein Society.

References:
Wu, H. (1931). Studies on the denaturization of proteins, 13: A theory of denaturization. Chinese Journal of Physiology 5:321-344. [Rpt. Adv. Protein Chem., 46:6-26 (1995)].
McElheny V K. (1966). Total synthesis of inslulin in red China. Science, 153: 281- 283.
Y. T. Kung et al (1965). Total synthesis of crystalline bovine insulin. Scientia Sinica, XIV(11):1710-1716.

BIOGRAPHY

2003-present: Professor, School of Life Sciences, Peking University (Beijing, China)
1998-2003: Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University (Beijing, China)
1996-1998: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University (Beijing, China)
1992-1996: Postdoc, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas, USA)
1992: PhD, Department of Biochemistry, Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas, USA)

Research Fields and Interests:
My lab has been focusing on the following aspects of biochemical research: Structure, function and activity modulation of molecular chaperones (e.g., small heat shock proteins, HdeA-a molecular chaperone for acid resistance); the biogenesis and quality control of membrane proteins (particularly the beta-barrel outer membrane proteins and the ATP synthase in Gram-negative bacteria); and the molecular mechanism of dormancy. We are currently more focused on exploring proteins in living cells by using the photo-crosslinking method based on the genetic incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins in a site-specific or random manner.

Selected Publications:
Liu, JF, Fu, XM and Chang Z. (2015). Hypoionic shock treatment enables aminoglycosides antibiotics to eradicate bacterial persisters. Scientific Reports, 5:14247, DOI:10:1038/srep14247.

Ge, X.,Wang, R., Ma, J., Liu, Y., Ezemaduka, A. N., Chen, P. R., Fu, X. and Chang, Z., (2014) DegP primarily functions as a protease for the biogenesis of β-barrel outer membrane proteins in the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, FEBS J., 281, 1226-1240.

Fu, X.,M, Shi, X.D., Yin, L. X., Liu, J. F., Joo, K. H., Lee, J. Y., and Chang, Z. （2013） Small heat shock protein IbpB acts as a robust chaperone in living cells by hierarchically activating its multi-type substrate-binding residues, J. Biol. Chem., 288(17):11897-11906.

Hong, W., Wu, Y. E., Fu, X. and Chang, Z. (2012), Chaperone-dependent mechanisms for acid resistance in enteric bacteria, Trends in Microbiology, 20:328-335.

Zhang, M., Lin, S. Song, X. Liu, J. Fu, Y. Ge, X. Fu, X. Chang, Z. Chen, P. R. (2011) A genetically incorporated crosslinker reveals chaperone cooperation in acid resistance, Nat. Chem. Biol., 7:671-677. (co-corresponding author)

Jiang J, Zhang X, Chen Y, Wu Y, Zhou ZH, Chang Z, Sui SF.(2008). Activation of DegP chaperone-protease via formation of large cage-like oligomers upon binding to substrate proteins. PNAS, 105(33):11939-11944. (co-corresponding author)

Hong, W., Jiao, W., Hu, J., Zhang, J., Liu, C., Fu, X., Shen, D., Xia, B., and Chang, Z. (2005). Periplasmic Protein HdeA Exhibits Chaperone-like Activity Exclusively within Stomach pH Range by Transforming into Disordered Conformation. J. Biol. Chem., 280(29):27029-27034.