Biography

As a Professor and Ph.D. supervisor, he graduated from University of Science and Technology of China with a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2013. He worked as a postdoc researcher in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine from 2014 to 2021. He then joined the School of Pharmacy of Wuhan University in November 2021. He is dedicated to the research of molecular mechanisms of pathogenic microorganism-host interactions and drug design.

Research

Pathogenic organisms directly or indirectly interact with host cells by secreting toxins, effectors, or surface proteins, causing damage to host cells, activation or inhibition of cell signaling pathways, leading to a series of diseases. The group will focus on the molecular mechanisms of pathogen effectors and host membrane receptor signaling, as well as targeted drug development and vaccine design. In our previous work, we have published articles in Science, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Nature Communications and other journals in the field of C. difficile infection. Based on the results of our previous research, we have obtained 3 PCT patents.

Research Interests:

1. Research on the molecular mechanisms of pathogen effector-host interactions

2. Structure-based drug development and vaccine design

3. Mining the medicinal value of biotoxins

Representative  Publications

1. Chen, P#., Tao, L#., Wang, T., Zhang, J., He, A., Lam, K. H., Liu, Z., He, X., Perry, K., Dong, M*. & Jin, R*. (2018) Structural basis for recognition of frizzled proteins by Clostridium difficile toxin B, Science. 360, 664-669.

2. Chen, P#., Lam, K. H., Liu, Z., Mindlin, F. A., Chen, B., Gutierrez, C. B., Huang, L., Zhang, Y., Hamza, T., Feng, H., Matsui, T., Bowen, M. E., Perry, K. & Jin, R*. (2019) Structure of the full-length Clostridium difficile toxin B, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 26, 712-719.

3. Chen, P#., Zeng, J#., Liu, Z., Thaker, H., Wang, S., Tian, S., Zhang, J., Tao, L., Gutierrez, C. B., Xing, L., Gerhard, Ralf., Huang, L., Dong, M*. & Jin, R*. (2021) Structural basis for CSPG4 as a receptor for TcdB and a therapeutic target in Clostridioides difficile infection, Nature Communications. 12, 3748.

4. Chen, P#., Tao, L., Liu, Z., Dong, M. & Jin, R. S*. (2019) Structural insight into Wnt signaling inhibition by Clostridium difficile toxin B, The FEBS Journal. 286, 874-881.

5. Chen, P#., & Jin, R*. (2021). Receptor binding mechanisms of Clostridioides difficile toxin B and implications for therapeutics development. The FEBS Journal. doi:10.1111/febs.16310

6. Chen, P#., Liu, Z., Wang, X. J., Peng, J. H., Sun, Q. Q., Li, J. Z., Wang, M. X., Niu, L. W., Zhang, Z. Y., Cai, G*., Teng, M. K*. & Li, X*. (2015) Crystal and EM Structures of Human Phosphoribosyl Pyrophosphate Synthase I (PRS1) Provide Novel Insights into the Disease-Associated Mutations, PloS One. 10, e0120304.

7. Chen, P#., Li, J. Z., Ma, J., Teng, M. K*. & Li, X*. (2013) A Small Disturbance, But a Serious Disease: The Possible Mechanism of D52H-Mutant of Human PRS1 That Causes Gout, Iubmb Life. 65, 518-525.

8. Liu, Z#., Chen, P., Wang, X. J., Cai, G., Niu, L. W., Teng, M. K*. & Li, X*. (2014) Crystal structure of DnaT(84-153)-dT10 ssDNA complex reveals a novel single-stranded DNA binding mode, Nucleic Acids Research. 42, 9470-9483.

9. Liu, Z#., Zhang, S., Chen, P., Tian, S., Zeng, J., Perry, K., Dong, M. & Jin, R*. (2021) Structural basis for selective modification of Rho and Ras GTPases by Clostridioides difficile toxin B. Science Advances. 7, eabi4582.

10. He A#, Tian S#, Kopper O, Horan DJ, Chen P, Bronson RT, Sheng R, Wu H, Sui L, Zhou K, Tao L, Wu Q, Huang Y, Shen Z, Chen H, He X, Robling AG, Jin R, Clevers H, Xiang D*, Li Z*, Dong M*. (2023). Targeted inhibition of Wnt signaling with a Clostridioides difficile toxin B fragment suppresses breast cancer tumor growth. PLoS Biol, 21(11), e3002353. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002353.