Organic Seminar - Xiaoyu Zhang

The Organic Seminar Series presents: Xiaoyu Zhang

Northwestern

Host: Ken Hsu

Title: Targeted Protein Control: From Mechanistic Insights to Therapeutic Strategies

Location: WEL 2.122

Refreshments served at 3:15pm

My research group uses small molecules to study biological processes, with the goal of controlling protein function for therapeutic applications. A major focus is targeted protein degradation, where we build platforms to discover E3 ligases and show that both cancer-overexpressed and mutant ligases can be harnessed for selective protein removal. In parallel, we uncover chemical principles in immunology by demonstrating that reactive residues on MHC-I peptide antigens can be targeted to modulate immune responses. We also investigate hapten-modified peptides, uncovering their role in allergy and harnessing this mechanism for immunotherapy. Together, these efforts reveal how chemistry shapes biology and point toward new ways of developing therapeutics.