Professor
Webpage: Dr. Yun Zhu
Professor of Structural Biology
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, CAS
Education/Training
2002, College of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, B.Sc. in Biology
2006, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Ph.D. in Biology
2011, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Assistant Professor
2014, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor
2022, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor
Personal Statement
The research interests of Yun Zhu focus on the structural and functional studies of proteins related to human major diseases. He has published 41 scientific research papers in SCI-indexed journals, including 31 papers as the first or corresponding author (including co-first and co-corresponding authors), obtained one authorized invention patent that has been assigned and industrialized. He has co-authored an English book "Virus Entry Inhibitor-Stopping the Enemy at the Gate" (Springer, ISBN-13:9789811687013). He is also guest editor of the journal VIRUSES (IF: 5.048) and reviewer for several journals. He has participated in the compilation of several industry standards and guiding principles as a member of standard expert group for the national Food and Drug Administration
Recently, he has made achievements in two major research areas. On the one hand, he elucidated the mechanism of virus invasion and designed a variety of broad-spectrum antiviral inhibitors by comprehensive structural approaches, including the nanoscale resolution in situ structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in postfusion state (PNAS,2021); to elucidate the structural basis for enhanced infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant (Cell Discov, 2021); the molecular mechanism of human cathepsin L in promoting SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs (Cell Discov, 2022); the development of entry inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 6-HB domain(Cell Mol Immunol, 2020); to reveal the high-resolution structure of SARS-CoV-2 6-HB domain and design peptide inhibitors(Cell Res, 2020); to elucidate the molecular mechanism of a broad spectrum peptide inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 (Signal Transduct Tar, 2022); etc. These findings not only reveal the key mechanisms of viral infection to host, but also promote the research and development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
On the other hand, he also used cutting-edge techniques to study the structure and function of supra macromolecular assemblies, including revealing the cryo-electron microscope density map of nuclear pore complex outer ring from Xenopus Laevis with isotropic 8 angstrom resolution and build them most complete structural model(Protein Cell, 2022); to elucidate structural basis of hyperthermophile respiratory chain complex III (Angew Chem Int Edit, 2020) and Complex IV (Angew Chem Int Edit, 2021) for their physiological functions under extreme conditions; to reveal the molecular mechanism of plant anion channel QUAC1 in regulating stomatal closure (SCI ADV, 2022), etc. These research results not only enrich our understanding of the structure of supra macromolecular assemblies, but also further develop the experimental techniques in cryo-electron microscopy single-particle analysis and cryo-tomography.
Honors
Essential Science Indicators - Highly Cited Papers, 2020
"Outstanding Paper Award" and “Top articles from the past 30 years” by Cell Research journal, 2021
High Impact publications for Chinese scholars, Spring Nature Publishing, 2020
The Six Outstanding Scientific Paper of China Association for Science and Technology, 2021
Contributions to Science
1. Zhu Y. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Entry Inhibitors. Adv Exp Med Biol 2022, 1366: 223-239.
2. Tai L, Zhu Y, Ren H, Huang X, Zhang C, Sun F. 8 A structure of the outer rings of the Xenopus laevis nuclear pore complex obtained by cryo-EM and AI. Protein Cell 2022.
3. Qin L, Tang LH, Xu JS, Zhang XH, Zhu Y, Zhang CR, Wang MH, Liu XL, Li F, Sun F, Su M, Zhai Y, Chen YH. Cryo-EM structure and electrophysiological characterization of ALMT from Glycine max reveal a previously uncharacterized class of anion channels. Sci Adv 2022, 8(9): eabm3238.
4. Zhu G, Zeng H, Zhang S, Juli J, Tai L, Zhang D, Pang X, Zhang Y, Lam SM, Zhu Y, Peng G, Michel H, Sun F. The Unusual Homodimer of a Heme-Copper Terminal Oxidase Allows Itself to Utilize Two Electron Donors. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021, 60(24): 13323-13330.
5. Zhang J, Zhang D, Sun L, Ji G, Huang X, Niu T, Xu J, Ma C, Zhu Y, Gao N, Xu W, Sun F. VHUT-cryo-FIB, a method to fabricate frozen hydrated lamellae from tissue specimens for in situ cryo-electron tomography. J Struct Biol 2021, 213(3): 107763.
6. Xia S, Wen Z, Wang L, Lan Q, Jiao F, Tai L, Wang Q, Sun F, Jiang S, Lu L, Zhu Y. Structure-based evidence for the enhanced transmissibility of the dominant SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant (Alpha). Cell Discov 2021, 7(1): 109.
7. Xia S, Lan Q, Zhu Y, Wang C, Xu W, Li Y, Wang L, Jiao F, Zhou J, Hua C, Wang Q, Cai X, Wu Y, Gao J, Liu H, Sun G, Munch J, Kirchhoff F, Yuan Z, Xie Y, Sun F, Jiang S, Lu L. Structural and functional basis for pan-CoV fusion inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants with preclinical evaluation. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2021, 6(1): 288.
8. Wang X, Xia S, Zhu Y, Lu L, Jiang S. Pan-coronavirus fusion inhibitors as the hope for today and tomorrow. Protein Cell 2021, 12(2): 84-88.
9. Tai L, Zhu G, Yang M, Cao L, Xing X, Yin G, Chan C, Qin C, Rao Z, Wang X, Sun F, Zhu Y. Nanometer-resolution in situ structure of the SARS-CoV-2 postfusion spike protein. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2021, 118(48): e2112703118.
10. Hua C, Ma Q, Zhu Y, Xia S, Liu Z, Li L, Lu L, Zhong N, Liu S, Yang Z, Jiang S. Repurposing of a clinically used anti-HPV agent to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infection as an intranasal formulation. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2021, 6(1): 318.
11. Fan H, Wang B, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, Song B, Xu H, Zhai Y, Qiao M, Sun F. A cryo-electron microscopy support film formed by 2D crystals of hydrophobin HFBI. Nat Commun 2021, 12(1): 7257.
12. Zhu G, Zhu C, Zhu Y, Sun F. Minireview of progress in the structural study of SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Curr Res Microb Sci 2020, 1: 53-61.
13. Zhu G, Zeng H, Zhang S, Juli J, Pang X, Hoffmann J, Zhang Y, Morgner N, Zhu Y, Peng G, Michel H, Sun F. A 3.3 A-Resolution Structure of Hyperthermophilic Respiratory Complex III Reveals the Mechanism of Its Thermal Stability. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020, 59(1): 343-351.
14. You S, Liu S, Dong X, Li H, Zhu Y, Hu L. Intravaginal Administration of Human Type III Collagen-Derived Biomaterial with High Cell-Adhesion Activity to Treat Vaginal Atrophy in Rats. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2020, 6(4): 1977-1988.
15. Xia S, Zhu Y, Liu M, Lan Q, Xu W, Wu Y, Ying T, Liu S, Shi Z, Jiang S, Lu L. Fusion mechanism of 2019-nCoV and fusion inhibitors targeting HR1 domain in spike protein. Cell Mol Immunol 2020, 17(7): 765-767.
16. Xia S, Liu M, Wang C, Xu W, Lan Q, Feng S, Qi F, Bao L, Du L, Liu S, Qin C, Sun F, Shi Z, Zhu Y, Jiang S, Lu L. Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 (previously 2019-nCoV) infection by a highly potent pan-coronavirus fusion inhibitor targeting its spike protein that harbors a high capacity to mediate membrane fusion. Cell Res 2020, 30(4): 343-355.
17. Xia S, Lan Q, Su S, Wang X, Xu W, Liu Z, Zhu Y, Wang Q, Lu L, Jiang S. The role of furin cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-mediated membrane fusion in the presence or absence of trypsin. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2020, 5(1): 92.
18. Wang Q, Su S, Xue J, Yu F, Pu J, Bi W, Xia S, Meng Y, Wang C, Yang W, Xu W, Zhu Y, Zheng Q, Qin C, Jiang S, Lu L. An amphipathic peptide targeting the gp41 cytoplasmic tail kills HIV-1 virions and infected cells. Sci Transl Med 2020, 12(546).
19. Qin DB, Liu MY, Yuan L, Zhu Y, Li XD, Chen LM, Wang Y, Chen YF, Wu WH, Wang Y. CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE 32-mediated phosphorylation is essential for the ammonium transport activity of AMT1;1 in Arabidopsis roots. J Exp Bot 2020, 71(16): 5087-5097.
20. Zhang X, Wang C, Chen B, Wang Q, Xu W, Ye S, Jiang S, Zhu Y, Zhang R. Crystal Structure of Refolding Fusion Core of Lassa Virus GP2 and Design of Lassa Virus Fusion Inhibitors. Front Microbiol 2019, 10: 1829.
21. Hua C, Zhu Y, Xu W, Ye S, Zhang R, Lu L, Jiang S. Characterization by high-resolution crystal structure analysis of a triple-helix region of human collagen type III with potent cell adhesion activity. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2019, 508(4): 1018-1023.
22. Hua C, Zhu Y, Wu C, Si L, Wang Q, Sui L, Jiang S. The Underlying Mechanism of 3-Hydroxyphthalic Anhydride-Modified Bovine Beta-Lactoglobulin to Block Human Papillomavirus Entry Into the Host Cell. Front Microbiol 2019, 10: 2188.
23. Yang H, Zhu Y, Chen X, Li X, Ye S, Zhang R. Structure of a prokaryotic SEFIR domain reveals two novel SEFIR-SEFIR interaction modes. J Struct Biol 2018, 203(2): 81-89.
24. Chen B, Zhu Y, Ye S, Zhang R. Structure of the DNA-binding domain of human myelin-gene regulatory factor reveals its potential protein-DNA recognition mode. J Struct Biol 2018, 203(2): 170-178.
25. Su S, Zhu Y, Ye S, Qi Q, Xia S, Ma Z, Yu F, Wang Q, Zhang R, Jiang S, Lu L. Creating an Artificial Tail Anchor as a Novel Strategy To Enhance the Potency of Peptide-Based HIV Fusion Inhibitors. J Virol 2017, 91(1).
26. Su S, Wang Q, Xu W, Yu F, Hua C, Zhu Y, Jiang S, Lu L. A novel HIV-1 gp41 tripartite model for rational design of HIV-1 fusion inhibitors with improved antiviral activity. Aids 2017, 31(7): 885-894.
27. Hu J, Zhu Y, Zhang JZ, Zhang RG, Li HM. A Novel Mutation in the Pyrin Domain of the NOD-like Receptor Family Pyrin Domain Containing Protein 3 in Muckle-Wells Syndrome. Chinese medical journal 2017, 130(5): 586-593.
28. Zhu Y, Su S, Qin L, Wang Q, Shi L, Ma Z, Tang J, Jiang S, Lu L, Ye S, Zhang R. Rational improvement of gp41-targeting HIV-1 fusion inhibitors: an innovatively designed Ile-Asp-Leu tail with alternative conformations. Sci Rep 2016, 6: 31983.
29. Sun Z, Zhu Y, Wang Q, Ye L, Dai Y, Su S, Yu F, Ying T, Yang C, Jiang S, Lu L. An immunogen containing four tandem 10E8 epitope repeats with exposed key residues induces antibodies that neutralize HIV-1 and activates an ADCC reporter gene. Emerging microbes & infections 2016, 5: e65.
30. Qin L, Zhu Y, Ding Z, Zhang X, Ye S, Zhang R. Structure of iridoid synthase in complex with NADP(+)/8-oxogeranial reveals the structural basis of its substrate specificity. J Struct Biol 2016, 194(2): 224-230.
31. Guo X, Qiu L, Wang Y, Wang Y, Wang Q, Song L, Li Y, Huang K, Du X, Fan W, Jiang S, Wang Q, Li H, Yang Y, Meng Y, Zhu Y, Lu L, Jiang S. A randomized open-label clinical trial of an anti-HPV biological dressing (JB01-BD) administered intravaginally to treat high-risk HPV infection. Microbes Infect 2016, 18(2): 148-152.
32. Guo X, Qiu L, Wang Y, Wang Y, Meng Y, Zhu Y, Lu L, Jiang S. Safety evaluation of chemically modified beta-lactoglobulin administered intravaginally. J Med Virol 2016, 88(6): 1098-1101.
33. Zhu X, Zhu Y, Ye S, Wang Q, Xu W, Su S, Sun Z, Yu F, Liu Q, Wang C, Zhang T, Zhang Z, Zhang X, Xu J, Du L, Liu K, Lu L, Zhang R, Jiang S. Improved Pharmacological and Structural Properties of HIV Fusion Inhibitor AP3 over Enfuvirtide: Highlighting Advantages of Artificial Peptide Strategy. Sci Rep 2015, 5: 13028.
34. Fu S, Tong P, Tan Y, Zhu Y, Chen YH. P20A inhibits HIV-1 fusion through its electrostatic interaction with the distal region of the gp41 fusion core. Microbes Infect 2015, 17(9): 665-670.
35. Lu L, Liu Q, Zhu Y, Chan KH, Qin L, Li Y, Wang Q, Chan JF, Du L, Yu F, Ma C, Ye S, Yuen KY, Zhang R, Jiang S. Structure-based discovery of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus fusion inhibitor. Nat Commun 2014, 5: 3067.
36. Chen Y, Song X, Ye S, Miao L, Zhu Y, Zhang RG, Ji G. Structural insight into enhanced calcium indicator GCaMP3 and GCaMPJ to promote further improvement. Protein Cell 2013, 4(4): 299-309.
37. Chao L, Lu L, Yang H, Zhu Y, Li Y, Wang Q, Yu X, Jiang S, Chen YH. Identification of a human protein-derived HIV-1 fusion inhibitor targeting the gp41 fusion core structure. PLoS One 2013, 8(5): e66156.
38. Liu Y, Zhu Y, Ye S, Zhang R. Crystal structure of kindlin-2 PH domain reveals a conformational transition for its membrane anchoring and regulation of integrin activation. Protein Cell 2012, 3(6): 434-440.
39. Zhu Y, Lu L, Xu L, Yang H, Jiang S, Chen YH. Identification of a gp41 core-binding molecule with homologous sequence of human TNNI3K-like protein as a novel human immunodeficiency virus type 1 entry inhibitor. J Virol 2010, 84(18): 9359-9368.
40. Lu L, Zhu Y, Huang J, Chen X, Yang H, Jiang S, Chen YH. Surface exposure of the HIV-1 env cytoplasmic tail LLP2 domain during the membrane fusion process: interaction with gp41 fusion core. J Biol Chem 2008, 283(24): 16723-16731.
41. Lu L, Zhu Y, Diao J, Wang Z, Chen YH. V3 CTL epitope density in a single recombinant molecule antigen differentially affects the number and activity of primary and memory CD8+ T cells. Vaccine 2008, 26(6): 845-852.
42. Zhu Y, Lu L, Chao L, Chen YH. Important changes in biochemical properties and function of mutated LLP12 domain of HIV-1 gp41. Chem Biol Drug Des 2007, 70(4): 311-318.
Contact
o Tel:+86-(0)10-64888582
o Fax:+86-(0)10-64888376
o Email: zhuyun@ibp.ac.cn
o Address: 15 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China
