PI
Research Group
Hanjie Jiang
hjiang(at)cimrbj.ac.cn
  Assistant Investigator
B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, China
M.S. in Pharmacology, Peking University, China
Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Work Experience
2025.2-Present
Assistant Investigator, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China
2022.2-2025.2
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA
Research Direction
The Jiang laboratory at CIMR is dedicated to using chemical biology approaches to decode the functions of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) in cancer and other diseases, with a focus on advancing innovative therapeutic strategies.
Major Research Projects
1. Developing and applying chemical methods, such as protein semisynthesis and molecular probes, to investigate protein ubiquitination, phosphorylation, and other PTMs in key enzyme and cellular signaling pathways.
2. Exploring the regulatory mechanisms of ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifications and their pathological roles in disease progression to identify novel therapeutic targets.
3. Designing and optimizing synthetic biology tools for targeted ubiquitination to provide innovative methods for basic research and translational medicine.
Major Contributions
1. Discovered the catalytic role of terminal carboxylate involvement in ubiquitin transfer by HECT E3 ligases (Nature Chemistry, 2024).
2. Uncovered the autoinhibition and activation mechanisms in HECT E3 ligases (Molecular Cell, 2017; JBC, 2019; JBC, 2022).
3. Developed a specific protein N-terminal labeling method (JACS, 2018; Methods in Enzymology, 2020; Current Protocols, 2021).
Representative Publications     *:Co-first author; #:Co-corresponding author
Representative Publications *:Co-first author; #:Co-corresponding author
Jiang H, Miller BD, Viennet T, Kim H, Lee K, Athanari H, Cole PA. Protein Semisynthesis Reveals Plasticity in HECT E3 Ubiquitin Ligase MechanismsNature Chemistry, 2024, 16: 1894-1905. DOI: 10.1038/s41557-024-01576-z
Jiang H, Chiang CY, Chen Z, Nathan S, D’Agostino G, Paulo JA, Song G, Zhu H, Gabelli SB, Cole PA. Enzymatic analysis of WWP2 E3 ubiquitin ligase using protein microarrays identifies autophagy-related substratesJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2022, 298: 101854. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101854
Jiang H, Thomas SN, Chen Z, Chiang CY, Cole PA. Comparative analysis of the catalytic regulation of NEDD4-1 and WWP2 ubiquitin ligasesJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2019, 294: 17421-17436. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.009211
Chen Z, Jiang H, Xu W, Li X, Dempsey DR, Zhang X, Devreotes P, Wolberger C, Amzel LM, Gabelli SB#, Cole PA#A tunable brake for HECT ubiquitin ligasesMolecular Cell, 2017, 66: 345-357. DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2017.03.020
Jiang H, Dempsey DR, Cole PA. Ubiquitin ligase activities of WWP1 germline variants K740N and N745SBiochemistry, 2021, 60: 357-364. DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00869
Dempsey DR, Jiang H, Kalin JH, Chen Z, Cole PA. Site-specific protein labeling with N-hydroxysuccinimide-esters and the analysis of ubiquitin ligase mechanismsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2018, 140: 9374-9378. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b05098
Jiang H, D'Agostino GD, Cole PA, Dempsey DR. Selective protein N-terminal labeling with N-hydroxysuccinimide estersMethods in Enzymology, 2020, 639: 333-353. DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2020.04.018
Lee K*, Barone M*, Waterbury AL, Jiang H, Nam E, DuBois-Coyne SE, Whedon SD, Wang ZA, Caroli J, Neal K, Ibeabuchi B, Dhoondia Z, Kuroda MI, Liau BB, Beck S#, Mattevi A#, Cole PA#Uncoupling histone modification crosstalk by engineering lysine demethylase LSD1Nature Chemical Biology, 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01671-9
Iwase R, Dempsey DR, Whedon SD, Jiang H, Palanski BA, Deng B, Cole PA. Semisynthetic Approach to the Analysis of Tumor Suppressor PTEN UbiquitinationJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2023, 145: 6039-6044. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c13871