CIMR-Yuchao Zhu

Research Group

Yuchao Zhu

yuchaozhu@cimrbj.ac.cn

Lab Website

Assistant Investigator

Bioorthogonal Chemistry, Chemical Genetics,

Unnatural Amino Acids, Proteins and Peptides, GPCR

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yuchaozhu@cimrbj.ac.cn

Lab Website

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B.S. in Pharmaceutical Science, Peking University, China

Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry, Peking University, China

Work Experience

2024-Present

Assistant Investigator, Chinese Institute for Medical Physiology, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China

2020-2024

Postdoctoral Fellow, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, China

2019-2020

Research Assistant, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Peking University, China

Honors and Awards

2025

Outstanding Exit Award of Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences

2019

Peking University Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award

2019

Beijing Outstanding Graduate

2018

Shimadzu Cup Excellent Paper Award

2018

Peking University Academic Innovation Award

Research Interests

The Zhu laboratory at CIMR explores the frontiers of biocompatible chemistry, genetic code expansion, and directed evolution to enhance drug discovery and develop therapies for human diseases. The lab's research includes: 1. Design, develop and optimize novel biocompatible reactions; 2. Development of new targeting strategies based on bioorthogonal chemistry; 3. Development of peptide drugs and chemogenetic tools combining chemistry with biotechnology; 4. Development of tools and drugs targeting GPCRs.

Major Contributions

1. Developed one-step transformation of carboxylic acids and alcohols via oxygen-centered radicals to simplify the synthesis of drugs and bioactive molecules (Organic Letters, 2015; ACS Catalysis, 2016; Nature Communications, 2018; Angewandte Chemie, 2020).

2. Developed tryptophan (Nature Chemistry, 2024) and phenylalanine (in submission) decaging techniques, achieving functional regulation of various levels of biological interactions (peptide-peptide, peptide-protein, protein-protein, cell-cell) and potentially regulate over 28,000 proteins' functions in living cells.

3. Developed a broad-spectrum small molecule-responsive allosteric protein switch, revealing new phosphorylation sites related to mitochondrial tyrosine kinases, and studied their relationship with mitochondrial quality control (In preparation).

Representative Publications *：Co-first author; #：Co-corresponding author

Zhu YC*, Ding WL*, Chen YL, Shan Y, Liu C, Fan XY^#, Lin SX^#, Chen PR^#. Genetically encoded bioorthogonal tryptophan decaging in living cells. Nature Chemistry, 2024, 16: 533-542. DOI: 10.1038/s41557-024-01463-7

Zhu YC, Lin F, Liu ZQ, Wang X, Wang SB, Fan XY^#, Chen PR^#. Bioorthogonal Cleavage Chemistry: Harnessing the Bond-break Reactions for Biomolecule Manipulations in Living Systems. Chinese Journal of Chemistry, 2024. DOI: 10.1002/CJOC.202400876.R1

Zhu YC, Zhang ZY, Jin R, Liu JZ, Liu GQ, Han B, Jiao N^#. DMSO-Enabled Selective Radical O-H Activation of 1,3(4)-Diols. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, 59: 19851-19856. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202007187

Zhu YC, Huang KM, Pan J, Qiu X, Luo X, Qin QX, Wei JL, Wen XJ, Zhang LZ, Jiao N^#. Silver-catalyzed remote Csp3 -H functionalization of aliphatic alcohols. Nature Communications, 2018, 9: 2625. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05014-w

Zhu YC, Wen XJ, Song S^#, Jiao N^#. Silver-catalyzed Radical Transformation of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids to Oxime Ethers. ACS Catalysis, 2016, 6: 6465-6472. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b02074

Zhu YC, Li XY, Wang XY, Huang XQ, Shen T, Zhang YQ, Sun X, Zou MC, Song S^#, Jiao N^#. Silver-catalyzed Decarboxylative Azidation of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids. Organic Letters, 2015, 17: 4702-4705. DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.5b02155

Song S, Li XY, Wei JL, Wang WJ, Zhang YQ, Ai LS, Zhu YC, Shi XM, Zhang XH, Jiao N^#. DMSO-catalyzed late-stage chlorination of (hetero)arenes. Nature Catalysis, 2020, 3: 107-115. DOI: 10.1038/s41929-019-0398-0

Liu JZ, Qiu X, Huang XQ, Luo X, Zhang C, Wei JL, Pan J, Liang YJ, Zhu YC, Qin QX, Song S, Jiao N^#. From Alkylarenes to Anilines via Site-Directed Carbon-Carbon Amination. Nature Chemistry, 2019, 11: 71-77. DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0156-y

Zhu BC, Shen T, Huang XQ, Zhu YC, Song S, Jiao N^#. Selective aerobic oxygenation of tertiary allylic alcohols with molecular oxygen. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2019, 58: 11028-11032. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201903690

Qin QX, Luo X, Wei JL, Zhu YC, Wen XJ, Jiao N^#. Acetonitrile Activation: An Effective Two-Carbon Unit for Cyclization. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2019, 58: 4376-4380. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201900947