Lin Hou (侯琳)

Master student, Grade 2019
Email: 20194250006@suda.edu.cn

Endoribonucleases are essential for diverse physiological processes, including control of gene expression by regulating RNA processing and turnover, antimicrobial defenses, and inflammation. RNase L (previously known as 2-5A dependent ribonuclease) is a principal mediator of the interferon (IFN)-inducible antiviral state that can determine survival of animals infected with highly pathogenic viruses. Despite its importance in interferonregulated antiviral innate immunity, relatively little is known about its precise mechanis(m) of action. Therefore, my project focuses on its structural and functional research, with inhibitors, exploring the activation and catalytic mechanis(m)s of RNase L.

Lingjia Lu (陆灵佳)

Master student, Grade 2019
Email: 20194250009@stu.suda.edu.cn

  The interferon (IFN)-inducible 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)/RNase L pathway blocks infections by some types of viruses through cleavage of viral and cellular ssRNA. Type I IFNs can initiate signaling to the OAS genes. dsRNA activates OAS proteins to produce 2-5A from ATP. Upon binding 2-5A, RNase L is converted from an inactive monomer to a potently active dimeric endoribonuclease for ssRNA. RNase L consists of three domains, namely the ankyrin repeat domain, a catalytically inactive pseudo-kinase domain, and the endoribonuclease domain. To further study the structure and function of the pseudo-kinase and endoribonuclease (KEN) domain, I perform a systematic shortening of RNase L from N-terminal 364 amino acids in order to unmask the regulatory functions of the KEN domain.

Shuang Zhao（赵双）

Master student, Grade 2019
Email: 20194250008@stu.suda.edu.cn

Transcriptional gene regulation is central to a pyramid of biological processes in all living organis(m)s.Transcription regulators play an important role in the regulation of transcription genes. As a transcription regulator, VQ protein plays an important role in plant defense response, stress response and growth and development. CaM protein is one of its target proteins. In order to study the interaction mode between Arabidopsis VQ22 and CaM, liquid NMR will be used to determine their interaction sites.

Yanfei Zhao (赵艳菲）
Master student, Grade 2019
Email: 20194250004@suda.edu.cn

Insect attack and pathogen infection seriously threaten plant survival.In the process of evolution, plants have evolved sophisticated defense mechanis(m)s to deal with insect attacks and pathogen infections.JAs(Jas(m)onates)are endogenous fatty acid derivatives plant defense hormones in plants, and are important signals that trigger plants to respond to insect attacks and pathogen infections. In healthy plants, the JAV1-JAZ8-WRKY51 (JJW) complex can inhibit JA biosynthesis genes and make JA in a low-level expression state.When the plant is attacked by insects, the JJW complex disintegrates, cancels the inhibition of JA biosynthesis genes, and JA quickly accumulates.My main research goal is to use NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance) and other technologies to verify the interaction between WRKY51 and VQ22 (JAV1), and study their interaction sites.

Xiaoqing Wang (王晓清)
Master student, Grade 2019
E-mail:wxq1402217623@163.com

Higher eukaryotes express a large number of Sec14 proteins and most of these define interesting modular proteins with Sec14-domains. Arabidopsis alone expresses 32 distinct members of this superfamily and these proteins span an interesting spectrum of domain arrangements—ranging from the plant-specific Sec14-nod(u)lin twodomain proteins, to Sec14-GOLD proteins also found in other multicellular eukaryotes, to single-domain Sec14 proteins. Sec14, the major yeast PITP, and other Sec14-like proteins are essential for membrane trafficking through late Golgi/endosomal compartments. My project focuses on exploring the structure and function of Arabidopsis Sec14-nod(u)lin proteins.

Yingnan Liu(刘英男)
Master student, Grade 2019
E-mail: ynliu9611@163.com

In eukaryotes, protein kinases are involved in key aspects of regulating cell function, including cell division, cell metabolis(m), and response to external signals. CDPKs (Ca²⁺-dependent protein kinases) are a class of Ca²⁺-dependent protein kinases, which are the main trans(m)itters of Ca²⁺ signaling in plants and certain protozoa. CDPK recognizes Ca²⁺ signals triggered by development and environmental stimuli and converts them into protein phosphorylation events. In plants, CDPKs are a multi-gene family, and their regulatory mechani**s are very complex. In recent years, there have been many studies on the function of different CDPKs in plants to trigger a variety of downstream responses in the immune and stress signal network, and the regulatory mechanis(m)s of their activation are elusive. My work focuses on the structure and activation regulation mechanis(m) research of CDPKs.

Yi Li (李毅)
Master student, Grade 2019
E-mail: 20194250010@stu.suda.edu.cn

Oxysterol binding protein (OSBP)-related protein 10/11 (ORP10/11) is a member of ORP family. Like other ORP family members , ORP10/11 has a conserved ORD domain (OSBP-related domain), which can specific bind various lipids, ORP10/11 plays critical roles in multiple biological process.ORP10/11 should be strictly regulated in the process of lipid transfer.Here, we focus on the metabolis(m) of ORP10/11recognition and transfer lipids.

Xiaohui Jin (金晓辉)
Master student, Grade 2019

E-mail: 578905109@qq.com

Higher plants contain a multigene family encoding proteins that share a highly conserved catalytic protein kinase domain about 70% identical to SHAGGY protein kinase (SGG) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), respectively, from Drosophila and mammals. Some studies have characterized the structure and evolution of the Arabidopsis SHAGGY-related protein kinase (ASK) gene family. At least ten ASK genes are present per haploid genome of Arabidopsis. The genomic sequences of five ASK genes show a strikingly high conservation of intron positions and exon lengths. Phylogenetic ****-yses suggested that the Arabidopsis gene family contains at least three ancient classes of genes that diverged early in land plant evolution.

Mengyu Huang(黄梦煜)
Master student, Grade 2019
E-mail:799097796@qq.com

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are serine/threonine protein kinases widely expressed in eukaryotes.In mammals, MAPKs are stimulated by various extracellular signals, such as cytokines, hormones and neurotrans(m)itters, which cause a series of downstream reactions through cascade activation and play an important role in cell signal transduction, environmental stress and inflammation. MAPK cascade signaling pathways include MKKK (MAPK kinase kinase), MKK (MAPK kinase kinase) and MAPK, which are activated by step-by-step phosphorylation, and phosphatase can inhibit MAPK activity through dephosphorylation. Most proteins interacting with MAPK have a conserved sequence KIM (kinase interaction motif), which can interact with corresponding MAPK and regulate MAPK activity, thus regulating a series of downstream reactions.

The plant patellin (PATL) proteins are yeast Sec14 protein (Sec14p)-like phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins (PITPs), which are widely distributed across the plant kingdom. The model plant Arabidopsis has six PATL members (designated as PATL1-PATL6). Accumulated evidence has indicated the involvement of Arabidopsis PATLs in various biological processes. My work is to explore the possible ligands of PATL proteins and hopefully reveal their possible metabolis(m)s of action and biological functions.

Yajie Song(宋亚杰)

Master student, Grade 2020
E-mail: songyajie816@163.com

Transcription factors (TFs) are characterized by the presence of a DNA-binding domain (DBD), and may also contain effector domains that mediate interactions with cofactors. Pioneering work and many subsequent studies established that DNA binding TFs occupy specific DNA sequences at controlelements (cis-elements) and recruit and regulate the transcription apparatus. My work focuses on studying how TFs recognize DNA ligands and how different TFs co-regulate transcription of target genes ,using biochemistry and structural biology approaches.

Cellular compartmentalization into membranous organelles requires precise spatio-temporal distribution of certain lipids that serve as organelle identity signatures. The intracellular trafficking of lipids is therefore central to normal cellular homeostasis. Recent studies show that specific non-vesicular lipid transfer pathways play crucial roles in the maintenance of membrane lipid composition. The non-vesicular transport is mediated by lipid transfer proteins (LTPs), one member of LTPs is the ORP family. My research focus on the metabolis(m) of lipid binding and transport ability medicated by the ORP family. What's more, we also try to explore the structure basis of ORP family, and expect to find some **all molecules that influence ORP function.

Plant cells have developed specific protective molecular machinery against environmental stress. One of the changes is the concentration of Ca2+ .As a plant-specific Ca2+ sensor, calcineurin B-like (CBL) can directly interact with CBL-interacting protein kinase (CIPK) and activate CIPKs to form a CBL-CIPK signal. The network further induces intracellular responses,which plays an important role in plant growth  and stress response. But the molecular mechani** and activity regulation metabolis(m) of CIPKs self-inhibition are still unclear. My work is to explore the molecular metabolis(m) of CIPKs self-inhibition and vitality control through using methods of biochemistry and enzyme kinetics.

Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling is of critical importance in eukaryotic organis(m)s. The MAPKs are constitute the most downstream module of the three tier MAPK cascade and are phosphorylated by upstream MAP kinase kinases (MAPKK), which are in turn are phosphorylated by MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK). My subject is to use a variety of experimental techniques including biochemistry, structural biology and enzyme catalysis kinetics to explore the metabolis(m) of activation and inhibition of MAPKs.

Influenza viruses can be divided into four types: A, B, C and D, but at present only influenza A viruses can cause pandemic influenza. As the main membrane protein on the membrane surface of influenza A virus, HA can mediate the fusion between virus membrane and host membrane. however, the molecular metabolis(m) of membrane fusion is not clear. My research is mainly focused on the structure and function of HA trans-membrane proteins by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

   At the beginning of infection, viruses with membranes transfer their genomes into cells by fusing them with cellular membranes. For influenza virus, the membrane glycoprotein involved in fusion is the hemagglutinin (HA). HA contains two subunits, HA1 at the N-terminus and HA2 at the C-terminus. HA2 contains two regions related to membrane fusion, namely the fusion peptide at the N-terminus and the trans-membrane domain (TMD) at the C-terminus. And my job is to study the structure and functions of TMD through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology.

The OAS-RNase L pathway is an antiviral pathway induced by IFN, which is activated in the innate immune response to viral infection. The viral double-stranded RNA stimulates the OAS enzyme to produce short 2',5'-oligoadenylic acid (2-5A) to activate RNase L, leading to the cleavage of single-stranded RNA, thereby preventing viral infections in higher vertebrates. My research project focuses on the expression, purification and interaction of some key proteins in the OAS-RNase L pathway, hoping to explore the molecular metabolis(m) of the RNase L protein in the inactive state and the active state transition process.

The 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)/ribonuclease L (RNase L) systemplays an essential role in the establishment of the antiviral state of a cell exposed to virus infection.When activated by binding to double stranded RNA (dsRNA) , OAS catalyzes the conversion of ATP to PPi and 2’-5’ linked oligoadenylates (2-5A). However, it is largely unknown how the OAS family members recognize dsRNA and recruit it for regulation of 2-5A synthesis. My project focuses on exploring the interaction between OAS and dsRNA. This work is significant for researching the activation metabolis(m) of OAS.

Jingyun Wu(吴静云)

Master student, Grade 2020
Email:wujingyun0413@163.com

Death and birth are two of the most important aspects of life. Bacteria play essential roles in health, diseases, environmental safety, and bioengineering. Death of bacterial cells relies not only on target damages specific to lethal stress, including antimicrobials, but also on intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species. However, bacteria evolve mysterious molecular events to survive lethal stress by forming dormant and tolerant sub-population, termed persister. My project aims to disclose the metabolis(m)s underlying formation of bacterial persistence, especially the HipA7-mediated high persistence. The findings of my work would help developing novel strategies for anti-persistent pathogens of clinical infectious diseases.

Mengxia Zhou（周梦霞）

Master student, Grade 2020
Email: 20204250107@suda.edu.cn

Bacterial pathogens annually cause 10 million of death in the world, in which one million of death is because of no use of present antimicrobials due to infections by drug-resistant bacteria. Drug-resistant infection has been estimated to lead to 10 million casualties annually by 2050. Persistence, tolerance and resistance are effective ways for bacteria to survive lethal stressors, such as antibiotics. Great progress has been achieved in resistance metabolis(m)s, but the way to metabolis(m)s of persistence and tolerance goes slower. Recent work showed that formation of persistence and tolerance constitute a prime reservoir for evolving highly resistant mutations. My work focuses on how bacteria form persisters to cope with coming lethal disasters.

Ling Wang（汪玲）

Master student, Grade 2020

Thymineless death (TLD), a phenomenon that cells of all live kingdoms die rapidly when thymidine/thymine is deficient, underlies the basis of several drugs including antibacterial, antimalarial and anticancer agents. Our recent work showed that TLD requires both single-strand DNA (ssDNA) generation and ROS accumulation. My work is to explore pathways involving in manipulation of accumulation of ROS and ssDNA.

  The main protease (Mpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) plays an essential role in virus replication and immune evasion, presenting a charming drug target. Nucleic acid aptamers are short single stranded oligonucleotides that are able to bind various targets, and they are typically isolated from an experimental procedure called systematic evolution of ligand exponential enrichment (SELEX). My project focuses on isolating RNA aptamers that have a significantly stronger affinity to Mpro to expore its structure.

SARS-CoV-2 has caused COVID-19 outbreak with millions of infected people, and the disease spread fast and threaten human life. Non-structural proteins (nsps) constitute the SARS-CoV-2 replication and transcription complex to play a pivotal role in the virus life cycle, which has become of key importance for treatment as well as the vaccine development and diagnosis of the Disease. My project focuses on the function of replicase nsp9 and helicase nsp13 by SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment), to select RNA aptamer with high affinity and specificity.

贾若妍

刘媛媛

宋龙

朱浩东

任晓冰

曹姗姗

刘舒蕾

张苏晴

雷育