Jingzhe Cao’s Post

CNIE researchers Ebony Shire and Diego L. from UCL Chemical Engineering have published the review paper “Molecular design of protein-based materials – state of the art, opportunities and challenges at the interface between materials engineering and synthetic biology” in Molecular Systems Design & Engineering (Royal Society of Chemistry MSDE), together with collaborators André Coimbra and Leonardo Rios Solis from UCL Biochemical Engineering and Carlos Barba-Ostria from Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador). In this open-access article, part of MSDE's "Emerging Investigator" series, the team discusses recent progress in the field of recombinant structural proteins for material applications, in terms of sequence–function relationships and DNA synthesis technologies. The article also covers computational tools that will help in developing rapid prototyping pipelines for this family of biopolymers, as well as future challenges to make protein-based materials a commercially viable alternative to current fossil-based polymers. Link to the article: https://lnkd.in/e6NjcrQn

I am excited to announce that I am a faculty candidate this year! My research focuses on addressing challenges in decarbonization and sustainability using bifunctional tandem catalysis and ultrasound-driven chemistry.   If you are attending the AIChE conference in San Diego next week, I would be thrilled to connect and share insights on my current work and future plans! Here are my presentation details:   1. Sunday, Oct. 27; 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM; Exhibit Hall GH Catalyst Discovery and Reaction Engineering by Coupling Chemical Reactions across Phase Boundaries. Meet the Faculty and Post-Doc Candidates Poster Session. 2. Sunday, Oct. 27; 5:18-5:36 PM, Room 28B 6g—The Mechanisms of •OH-Driven Aromatic Ring Fragmentation Using Ultrasound and Opportunities for Selective Formation of Dialdehydes. Catalysis and Reaction Engineering in Liquid and Multiphase Systems I: Computational Studies. 3. Tuesday, Oct. 29; 9:30-9:48 AM, Room 28D 246f—Beyond “Hydrogen Spillover”: The Mechanistic Origins of Bifunctional Synergies between Pt and Non-Reducible Oxide Co-Catalysts for Arene Hydrogenation. Fundamentals of Catalysis and Surface Science IV: Metal, Bimetallic, and Single Atom Catalysts. 4. Thursday, Oct. 31; 4:42-5:00 PM, Room 28C 708e—Selective Oxidation of Aldehyde Functions of Aqueous Organic Molecules Under Nominally Ambient Temperature Using Ultrasound Irradiation. Reaction Chemistry and Engineering III: Process Analysis and Intensification

"From curiosity to discovery!! My chemistry journey has been a thrilling ride. From synthesizing novel compounds to exploring biological processes, I've been fascinated by the chemical world. Recent highlights include my review article on the "Anticancer Activity of Citrus Family", contributing to phytochemistry and oncology research. Chemistry has come a long way, with breakthroughs in: - Green chemistry - Computational chemistry - Nanotechnology Excited to see what's next! Join me in celebrating the power of chemistry to transform lives and advance our understanding of the world. #ChemistryJourney #AdvancementsInChemistry"

Meet Carlos Huang-Zhu, a grad student in our department and a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow. His research focuses on using molecular simulations to study nano-bio interactions. Specifically, he designs nanoparticles coated with chemical molecules that possess modular groups which he modifies to study how different chemistries modulate thermodynamic and mechanistic processes with lipid bilayers. "Without a doubt, being able to actually see what’s happening at a molecular scale. With my research, I can provide those explanations with quantitative metrics and visual support through simulation snapshots and videos." Read more on our website: https://lnkd.in/gHa9mQQT #nanoparticles #chemicalengineering #chemicalengineer #simulations

PhD Fellowship in Chemistry A PhD Fellowship in Chemistry is available in the Catalysis and Sustainable Group (https://lnkd.in/gapjrWRQ) at the Basque Center for Macromolecular Design and Engineering, POLYMAT Fundazioa (www.polymat.eu) in collaboration with an industrial partner. The focus of this PhD thesis will be in valorization of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) using innovative approaches.

✨Paper of the day✨ Mechanochemical Covalent Bond Formation: A Kinetic Perspective 🤝 This perspective paper in RSC Mechanochemistry (DOI: 10.1039/D3MR00018D) explores the kinetics of mechanochemical covalent bond formation, a crucial aspect of mechanochemistry 🔬. Mechanochemistry is a field that utilizes mechanical forces to drive chemical reactions, offering a promising approach to sustainable chemistry 🌿💚. ✅ Theme: The paper delves into the fundamental question of how stresses activate covalent-bond-forming reactions, a crucial aspect of mechanochemistry 🤔🔍. By understanding the kinetics of these reactions, researchers can optimize reaction conditions and predict outcomes 📈🔮. ▶️ Key Findings: ◼️ Mechanochemical reactions can significantly reduce solvent and energy requirements for forming covalent organic bonds 💡🌟. ◼️ Applied stress can distort organic molecules, lowering reaction activation energies and altering reaction trajectories 🔄🔩. ◼️ Nanoscopic probe-microscope tips enable the study of reactions on monolayers, surfaces, or nanoparticles, providing insight into primary reaction mechanisms 🔍🔎. ◼️ The emerging consensus is that stress accelerates reactions by distorting molecules, enabling prediction of mechanochemical reaction outcomes 📊🔮. ▶️ Implications: ◼️ Wider adoption of sustainable mechanochemical processes in synthetic chemistry, aligning with green chemistry principles 🌱🌿. ◼️ Potential for reduced energy and solvent requirements in chemical synthesis 💚🔋. _Read the full paper to delve deeper into the kinetics of mechanochemical covalent bond formation and its implications for sustainable chemistry!_ 📚🔓 #Mechanochemistry #CovalentBondFormation #ReactionKinetics #SustainableChemistry #GreenChemistry #RSCMechanochemistry #global #research #MIT #india #IIT #IISER #ICT #NIPER #NIT #IISC #instituteofchemicaltechnology #IICT #CSIR #NCL #purdue #harvard #oxford #scripps #stanford #ball #milling #chemistry #catalysis #organocatalysis #metalcatalysis #pharma #industry #growth #sector #new #sector #development #research #work #phd #PhD #doctor #thesis https://lnkd.in/dXF8u4P2

I am thrilled to announce the publication of my second research article, titled "Copper oxide nanoparticles: Synthesis and Potential Antibacterial Agents "in the Journal of Applied Organometallic Chemistry. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to my co-authors, and everyone who supported this work. You can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/dJYBjeNw #Research #Publication #Science #Innovation #Chemistry

We at the centre for Chemical Mechanisms of Life are happy to announce our first mini-courses this September. Prof. Andreas Kirschning from Leibniz University Hannover (Germany) will teach two one-week-long courses at BMC in Uppsala. Course 1 (September 16-20): Biosynthetic Concepts for Chemical Synthesis Course 2 (September 23-27): Origin of Life If you want to join one or both of these courses, please register here until August 26th: https://lnkd.in/dWeHxJQa Both courses are open to any interested PhD students and postdocs and will be geared towards chemists (or biochemists, bioprocess scientists or microbiologists/geoscientists with an interest in metabolism/molecular evolution). They can be taken independently of each other but the first one will include a few useful topics as groundwork for the second one. Course times will be in the morning on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday and in the afternoon on Friday, with Thursday allocated to complete an assignment. In-person participation is preferred but there will be an option to follow the course online as well. Exact times and locations will follow soon. Course contents: 1) Biosynthetic Concepts for Chemical Synthesis: Chemical synthesis has to open to new methods and methodologies from adjacent disciplines. Whole cell processes and enzymes can serve as additives in the planning of complex chemical synthesis. Examples will be provided for biotechnological processes as well as current trends in academic synthesis (e. g. towards fragrances, aromas and drugs). Keywords are: Mutasynthesis, combinatorial biosynthesis and enzymes in chemo-biosynthetic approaches. 2) Origin of Life: How biochemical, chemical and geochemical approaches can provide insight into the transitions phase from a chemical driven evolution to pre-metabolic networks and forms of Life before the Last Universal Ancestor (LUCA) appeared on the scene. The following concepts will be covered: RNA first, metabolism first, how might the genetic code have evolved? Coenzymes and cofactors as links between RNA and metabolism will be included into these considerations.

➡ Mini-conference on chemical biology forged deeper relationships between Leicester and Lund! Red an interview with Zoë Fisher from the European Spallation Source ERIC about this recent event within the Chemistry of Life theme! It aimed to build collaborations between Leicester and Lund through sharing ongoing science. Specifically, the working group who organised the conference aims to progress and establish collaborations focusing on mass spectrometry analysis of cancer-related proteins. – From ESS perspective, I think there is scope for neutrons and deuteration to play a role in some of the research in focus for Leicester. Exploring this to find common ground is very exciting. https://lnkd.in/d_G7wvVM

Super thrilled to announce the debut of my first paper from my ongoing graduate thesis research at the Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington in the (2024 #Nobel Chemistry Laureate) David Baker lab! Check it out the biorxiv preprint here: https://lnkd.in/g6uvk7_c This paper showcases the application of a novel #generative #AI method (#RFam) developed in the lab (led by Woody Ahern) for #enzyme design; my colleague DongHyo Kim and I used this method to design metallohydrolases from scratch, enzymes that use metal(s) to coordinate water molecules for breaking other molecules apart. We calculated quantum chemistry models of our proposed reaction rate-limiting transition state in the presence of catalytic protein functional groups (a theoretical enzyme/"theozyme") and used #RFam to generate protein scaffolds that host the transition state and catalytic sidechains - no other prior protein scaffold information required! Most strikingly, we designed the most efficient de novo metallohydrolase ever, before laboratory evolution, by a few orders of magnitude in a SINGLE shot of designs (96 designs from 96 unique RFam scaffolds)!! Our most active design, #A1, was our top-ranked in silico design (hence the name) and has a kcat/KM ~ 23,000 M-1 s-1 (compared to previous designed metallohydrolases of <100 M-1 s-1). Furthermore, our experimental success rate was >5%, as we characterized A1 + 4 other active hits, which is also orders of magnitude above some previously reported enzyme design efforts. This work is an insanely exciting step forward in #enzyme_design - I envision a future where chemists can dream up any arbitrary physics-allowed chemical reaction and design a highly active and specific enzyme that catalyzes it, directly from computer to benchtop. This could tackle some of our most pressing climate/pollution/recycle problems, make industrial chemistry cheaper/greener, and open the door to novel enzyme therapeutics (just to name a few awesome enzyme design use cases). We will continue to push the frontier to advance toward this goal, today we celebrate a small step closer. Huge thank you to Indrek Kalvet for his mentorship in the project, everyone else who contributed to the paper, David Baker, and everyone else at the IPD for all the support, encouragement, and help. Check out the movie below showing RFam generating the scaffold of A1 using only our input theozyme.