Publications
2026
47. Nam, E.; Osorio Valeriano, M.; Wang, Z. A.; Whedon, S. D.; Jiang, H.; Zhang, M. X.; Dubois-Coyne, S.; Haque, I. A.; Jiang, J.; Ferreira, J.; Farnung, L.; Lee, K.; Cole, P. A. Multivalent Interactions Mediate SNAIL Transcription Factor Stimulation of the Nucleosome Deacetylase Activity of the CoREST Complex. Nucleic Acids Research, 2026, 54, gkag600.
46. Doh, H. M.; Kozlova, N.; Wang, Z. A.; Bae, H.; Cole, P. A.; Muranen, T. Interaction of NDRG1 and MRE11 Modulates DNA Replication and Repair. Cancers, 2026, 18 (8), 1303.
45. Zhou, Y.-F.; Zhang, L.; Niu, Z.; Wang, X.; Hunt, R.; Zhao, Y.; Sharifi, N.; Wang, Z. A.* Chemical Proteomics Identifies Ketogenesis-Mediated Cysteine Modifications Regulating Redox Function. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2026, e19830
UM Miller School of Medicine News 2025
UM Miller School of Medicine News 2026
2025
44. Zhou, Y.-F.; Zhang, L.; Niu, Z.; Wang, Z. A.* Targeting the Reactive Proteome: Recent Advances in Activity-Based Protein Profiling and Probe Design. Biomolecules, 2025, 15 (12), 1699.
Coverart: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/12
43. Niu, Z. L.; Zhang, L.; Zhou, Y.-F; Wang, Z. A.* Kinetic Analysis of HDAC- and Sirtuin-Mediated Deacylation on Chemically Defined Histones and Nucleosomes. Curr. Protoc., 2025, 5 (11), e70251.
Cover: https://doi.org/10.1002/cpz1.70267
42. Wang, Z. A.; Markert, J.; Whedon, S. D.; Abeywardana, M. Y.; Sheng, X.; Nam, E.; Lee, K.; Chen, M.; Waterbury, A.; Zhao, Y.; Farnung, L.; Cole, P. A. Structural and Enzymatic Plasticity of SIRT6 Deacylase Activity. J. Biol. Chem. 2025, 301(5), 108446.
41. Han, D.; Cui, Y.; Deng, X.; Li, C.; Zhu, X.; Wang, B.; Chu, G.-C.; Wang, Z. A.; Tang, S.; Zheng, J.-S.; Liang, L.-J.; Liu, L. Mechanically Triggered Protein Desulfurization. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147 (5), 4135−4146.
40. Yeo, M. J. R.; Zhang, O.; Xie, X.; Nam, E.; Payne, N. C.; Gosavi, P. M.; Kwok, H. S.; Iram, I.; Lee, C.; Li, J.; Chen, N. J.; Nguyen, K.; Jiang, H.; Wang, Z. A.; Lee, K.; Mao, H.; Harry, S. A.; Barakat, I. A.; Takahashi, M.; Waterbury, A. L.; Barone, M.; Mattevi, A.; Carr, S. A.; Udeshi, N. D.; Bar-Peled, L.; Cole, P. A.; Mazitschek, R.; Liau, B. B.; Zheng, N. UM171 glues asymmetric CRL3-HDAC1/2 assembly to degrade CoREST corepressors. Nature. 2025, 639, 232-240.
39. Richards-Corke, K. C.; Jiang, Y.; Yeliseyev, V.; Zhang, Y.; Franzosa, E. A.; Wang, Z. A.; Abeywardana, M. Y.; Cole, P. A.; Huttenhower, C.; Bry, L.; Balskus E. P. A Small-Molecule Inhibitor of Gut Bacterial Urease Protects the Host from Liver Injury, ACS. Chem. Biol. 2025, 20, 48−55.
38. Lee, K.; Barone, M.; Waterbury, A. L.; Jiang, H.; Nam, E.; DuBois-Coyne, S. E.; Whedon, S. D.; Wang, Z. A.; Caroli, J.; Neal, K.; Ibeabuchi, B.; Dhoondia, Z.; Kuroda, M. I.; Liau, B. B.; Beck, S.; Mattevi, A.; and Cole, P. A. Uncoupling histone modification crosstalk by engineering lysine demethylase LSD1, Nat. Chem. Biol. 2025, 21, 227-237.
2024
37. Whedon, S. D.#; Lee, K. #; Wang, Z. A. #; Zahn, E.; Lu, C.; Abeywardana, M. Y.; Fairall, L.; Nam, E.; Dubois-Coyne, S.; Ioannes, P. D.; Sheng, X.; Andrei, A.; Lundberg, E.; Jiang, J.; Armache, K.-J.; Zhao, Y.; Schwabe, J. W. R.; Wu, M.; Garcia, B. A.; Cole, P. A. Circular Engineered Sortase for Interrogating Histone H3 in Chromatin, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 33914-33927. # Equal contribution
36. Abeywardana, M. Y.; Whedon, S. D.; Lee, K.; Nam, E.; Dovarganes, R.; Dubois-Coyne, S.; Haque, I. A.; Wang, Z. A.* and Cole, P. A. *. Multifaceted regulation of Sirtuin 2 (Sirt2) Deacetylase Activity, J. Biol. Chem. 2024, 300 (9), 107722.
2023
35. Wang, Z. A.; Markert, J. W.; Whedon, S. D.; Abeywardana, M. Y.; Lee, K.; Jiang, H.; Suarez, C.; Lin, H.; Farnung, L.; and Cole, P. A. The Structural Basis of Sirtuin 6-Catalyzed Nucleosome Deacetylation, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145 (12), 6811–6822.
Spotlight by J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145 (13), 7049−7049.
2022
34. Wang, Z. A.; Zheng, J.-S. Advances in peptide synthesis, Book chapter 4 for Peptide and Peptidomimetic Therapeutics from Bench to Bedside, 2022, Elsevier, 73-98.
33. Lee, K.; Whedon, S. D.; Wang Z. A.; Cole, P. A. Distinct biochemical properties of the class I histone deacetylase complexes. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2022, 70, 102179.
32. Wang, Z. A.; Whedon, S. D.; Wu, M.; Wang, S.; Brown, E. A.; Anmangandla, A.; Regan, L.; Lee, K.; Du, J.; Hong, J. Y.; Fairall, L.; Kay, T.; Lin, H.; Zhao, Y.; Schwabe, J. W. R.; Cole, P. A. Histone H2B Deacylation Selectivity: Exploring Chromatin’s Dark Matter with an Engineered Sortase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144 (8), 3360−3364.
2021
31. Pujari, S. S.; Wu, M.; Thomforde, J.; Wang, Z. A.; Chao, C.; Olson, N.; Erber, L.; Pomerantz, W.; Cole, P.; Tretyakova, N. Y. Site-Specific 5-Formyl Cytosine Mediated DNA-Histone Cross-Links: Synthesis and Polymerase Bypass by Human DNA Polymerase η. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60 (51), 26489-26494.
30. Shiota, H.; Alekseyenko, A. A.; Wang, Z. A.; Filic, I.; Knox, T. M.; Luong, N. M.; Huang, Y.; Scott, D. A.; Jones, K. L.; Gokhale, P. C.; Lemieux, M. E.; Cole, P. A.; Kuroda, M. I.; French, C. A. Chemical Screen Identifies Diverse and Novel Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors as Repressors of NUT Function: Implications for NUT Carcinoma Pathogenesis and Treatment. Mol. Cancer Res. 2021, 19 (11), 1818-1830.
2020
29. Wang, Z. A.; Cole, P. A., The Chemical Biology of Reversible Lysine Post-translational Modification. Cell Chem. Biol. 2020, 27 (8), 953-969
28. Wang, Z. A.; Millard, C. J.; Lin, C.-L.; Gurnett, J. E.; Wu, M.; Lee, K.; Fairall, L.; Schwabe, J. W. R.; Cole, P. A., Diverse nucleosome Site-Selectivity among histone deacetylase complexes. eLife 2020, 9, e57663.
27. Wang, Z. A.; Cole, P. A., Methods and Applications of Expressed Protein Ligation. Methods Mol. Biol. 2020, 2133, 1-13.
26. Dai, Y.; Wang, Z. A.; Li Y.; Wang, J.; Ren J.; Zhang P.; Liu, X., Genome engineering and synthetic biology for biofuels: A bibliometric analysis. Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem. 2020, 67 (6), 824-834.
2019
25. Guo, Q.-Y.; Zhang, L.-H.; Zuo C.; Huang, D.-L.; Wang, Z. A., Zheng, J.-S.; Tian, C.-L., Channel activity of mirror-image M2 proton channel of influenza A virus is blocked by achiral or chiral uinhibitors. Protein and Cell 2019, 16 (3), 369-384.
24. Wang, Z. A., The Recent Progresses in Chemical Synthesis of Proteins with Site-Specific Lysine Post-translational Modifications. Cur. Org. Synth. 2019, 16 (3), 369-384.
2018
23. Wang, Z. A.; Liang, Y.-Y.; Zheng, J.-S., Reductive Amination/Alkylation Reactions: The Recent Developments, Progresses, and Applications in Protein Chemical Biology Studies. Curr. Org. Synth. 2018, 15 (6), 755-761.
22. Liang, L.-J.; Si, Y.-Y.; Tang, S.; Huang D.-L.; Wang, Z. A.; Tian, C.-L.; Zheng, J.-S., Biochemical properties of K11,48-branched ubiquitin chains. Chin. Chem. Lett. 2018, 29 1155–1159.
2017
21. Wang, Z. A.; Liu, W. R., Proteins with Site-specific Lysine Methylation. Chem. Eur. J. (Invited Concept Article), 2017, 23 (49), 11732–11737.
20. Wang, Z. A.; Hsu, W. W.; Liu, W. R., The Role of SIRT1 in Epigenetics, Book chapter for Handbook of Nutrition, Diet, and Epigenetics, 2017, Springer, 1-19.
19. Wang, Z. A.; Kurra, Y.; Wang, X.; Zeng, Y.; Lee, Y.-J.; Sharma, V.; Lin, H.; Dai, S. Y.; Liu, W. R., A Versatile Approach for Site-Specific Lysine Acylation in Proteins. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56 (6), 1643–1647.
Highlighted by “Advanced Science News” in Chinese.
18. Wang, Z. A.; Zeng, Y.; Kurra, Y.; Wang, X.; Tharp, J. M.; Vatansever, E. C.; Hsu, W. W.; Dai, S.; Fang, X.; Liu, W. R., A Genetically Encoded Allysine for the Synthesis of Proteins with Site-Specific Lysine Dimethylation. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56 (1), 212–216.
Highlighted by “Advanced Science News” in Chinese.
17. He, Q.; Li, J.; Qi, Y.; Wang, Z.; Huang, Y.; Liu, L., Chemical synthesis of histone H2A with methylation at Gln104. Sci. China Chem. 2017, 60 (5), 621–627.
2016
16. Zuo, C.; Tang, S.; Si, Y.-Y.; Wang, Z.; Tian, C.; Zheng, J.-S., Efficient Synthesis of Longer Aβ Peptides via Removable Backbone Modification. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2016, 14, 5012-5018.
15. Wang, Z. A.; Ding, X.; Tian, C.; Zheng, J.-S., Protein/Peptide Secondary Structural Mimics: Design, Characterization, and Modulation of Protein-Protein Interactions. RSC Adv. 2016, 6, 61599-61609.
14. Zheng, J.-S.; He, Y.; Zuo, C.; Cai, X.-Y.; Tang, S.; Wang, Z. A.; Zhang, L.-H.; Tian, C.-L.; Liu, L., Robust Chemical Synthesis of Membrane Proteins through a General Method of Removable Backbone Modification. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138 (10), 3553–3561.
13. Zhang, L.; Wei, K.; Xu, J.; Yang, D.; Zhang, C.; Wang, Z.; Li, M., Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC-An ethnopharmacological, phytochemical and pharmacological review. J. Ethnopharmacol. 2016, 186, 1–13.
12. Zhang, L.; Zhao, Y.; Wang, Z. A.; Wei, K.; Qiu, B.; Zhang, C.; Wang-Müller, Q.; Li, M., The genus Boschniakia in China: An ethnopharmacological and phytochemical review. J. Ethnopharmacol. 2016, 194, 987–1004.
11. Guo, J.; Wang, N.; Peng, L.; Wu, J.; Ye, Q.; Feng, A.; Wang, Z.; Zhang, C.; Xing, X.-H.; Yuan, J., Electrochemically-responsive magnetic nanoparticles for reversible protein adsorption. J. Mater. Chem. B 2016, 4 (22), 4009–4016.
2015
10. Wang, Z.-P. A.; Tian, C.-L.; Zheng, J.-S., The Recent Developments and Applications of Traceless-Staudinger Reaction in the Chemical Biology Study. RSC Adv. 2015, 5, 107192-107199.
9. Chen, X.; Tang, S.; Zheng, J.-S.; Zhao, R.; Wang, Z.-P.; Shao, W.; Chang, H.-N.; Cheng, J.-Y.; Zhao, H.; Liu, L., Chemical synthesis of a two-photon-activatable chemokine and photon-guided lymphocyte migration in vivo. Nat. Commun. 2015, 6, 1-9.
8. Tang, S.; Si, Y. Y.; Wang, Z. P.; Mei, K. R.; Chen, X.; Cheng, J. Y.; Zheng, J. S.; Liu, L., An Efficient One-Pot Four-Segment Condensation Method for Protein Chemical Synthesis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 127 (19), 5805-5809.
7. Wang, Z.-P.; Ding, X.; Wang, J.; Li, Y., Double-Edged Sword in Cells: Chemical Biology Studies of Cytochrome C’s Vital Role in the Intrinsic Pre-Apoptotic Mitochondria Leakage Pathway. RSC Adv. 2015, 5, 28258-28269.
6. Wang, Z.-P.; Wang, Y.-H.; Chu, G.-C.; Shi, J.; Li, Y.-M., The Study of the Chemical Synthesis and Preparation of Histone with Post-Translational Modifications. Curr. Org. Synth. 2015, 12 (2), 150-162.
2014
5. Zheng, J.-S.; Yu, M.; Qi, Y.-K.; Tang, S.; Shen, F.; Wang, Z.-P.; Xiao, L.; Zhang, L.; Tian, C.-L.; Liu, L., Expedient Total Synthesis of Small to Medium-Sized Membrane Proteins via Fmoc Chemistry. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136 (9), 3695-3704.
4. Wang, Z.; Ding, X.; Li, S.; Shi, J.; Li, Y., Engineered fluorescence tags for in vivo protein labelling. RSC Adv. 2014, 4 (14), 7235-7245.
2013
3. Zheng, J.-S.; Tang, S.; Qi, Y.-K.; Wang, Z.-P.; Liu, L., Chemical synthesis of proteins using peptide hydrazides as thioester surrogates. Nat. Protoc. 2013, 8 (12), 2483-2495.
2. Lu, X.; Song, C.-X.; Szulwach, K.; Wang, Z.; Weidenbacher, P.; Jin, P.; He, C., Chemical modification-assisted bisulfite sequencing (CAB-Seq) for 5-carboxylcytosine detection in DNA. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135 (25), 9315-9317.
2011
1. Wang, F.; Cai, S.; Wang, Z.; Xi, C., Synthesis of 2-mercaptobenzothiazoles via DBU-promoted tandem reaction of o-haloanilines and carbon disulfide. Org. Lett. 2011, 13 (12), 3202-3205.