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Scholar Profiles

Zixuan Wang

Zixuan Wang

Country of origin: China

Subject: Chemistry

Matriculation year: 2022

I pursued my Ph.D. in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. My PhD project involves studies on G-quadruplexes (G4s), which have been reported to be associated with DNA damage, genomic instability, and cancer-related genes. This makes their role in the biology of cancer interesting. Despite the fact that cells contain a large number of G4 sequences, both in vitro and in vivo, artificial G4 ligands can specifically recognize and bind to G4 structures with a wide range of sequence tolerance. G4 small molecule ligands Pyridostatin (PDS) and its derivatives are the most frequently used G4 ligands, which can be used to fluorescently image G4s in cells. PDS binds to all topological types of G4s with little bias and has a high affinity for G4s.

Our goal is to characterize G4s biophysically and to target them biochemically by using PDS and its derivatives, and therefore controls the biofunction of G4s in living cells.
Another part of my PhD project involves natural chemically modified nucleobases that occur in the DNA of organisms with the primary focus on human cells in normal and cancer disease states.

A specific area of focus will be the development of chemical catalysis to selectively react with epigenetic DNA modifications. Such reactivity will be exploited for chemical labelling and visualization and also adapted towards novel sequencing applications that reveal the presence and location of modifications in genomes. Once developed the methodology will be exploited to build knowledge and understanding of the natural role of bases in biology and their potential exploitation in the detection and diagnosis of disease states.

Previous education:
Peking University, Beijing, China