Xuechen Li

1999, B.Sc. Nankai University, P. R. China

2003, M.Sc. University of Alberta, Canada

2006, Ph.D. Harvard University, USA

2/2007-6/2009, Postdoctoral fellow, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Professor Samuel Danishefsky)

7/2009-present, Professor, the University of Hong Kong

8/2021-present, Associate Dean, Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong

We are interested in the chemical synthesis, medicinal chemistry and chemical biology of biomacromolecules including peptides, proteins, carbohydrates and nucleic acids, spanning from innovative synthetic method development to biological studies and drug discovery, with an ultimate aim to develop novel therapeutics. We have pioneered the development of several innovative methods for protein chemical synthesis and modifications, including Ser/Thr Ligation (STL), Cys/Pen Ligation (CPL), Superfast desulfurization, OPA-amine bioconjugation and OPA peptide cyclization .

1) Protein chemical synthesis by serine and threonine ligation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2013, 110, 6657.

2) Total Synthesis of Daptomycin by Cyclization via a Chemoselective Serine Ligation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 6272

3) Serine/Threonine Ligation: Origin, Mechanistic Aspects and Applications. Liu, H.; Li, X.* Acc. Chem. Res. 2018, 51, 1643

4) Total Synthesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1244 Pilin Glycan via de novo Synthesis of Pseudaminic acid. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 13420.

5) Synthetic pseudaminic-acid-based antibacterial vaccines confers effective protection against Acinetobacter baumannii infection. ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 1535.

6) Superfast Desulfurization for Protein Chemical Synthesis and Modification. Chem. 2022, 8, 2542.

7) Precision in Protein Chemical Modification and Total Synthesis. Chem. 2024, 10, 767-799

8) Discovery of a monoclonal antibody that targets cell-surface pseudaminic acid of Acinetobacter baumannii with direct bactericidal effect. ACS Cent. Sci. 2024, 10, 439

Full publication list link:

https://chemistry.hku.hk/staff/xcli/XCLiGroup/publications.html

RGC Senior Research Fellow (2023)

Contribution Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry by Chinese Chemical Society (2023)

The Chinese Peptide Cathay Award (2020)

The Rao Makineni Lectureship Award, American Peptide Society (2019)

Outstanding Researcher Award, the University of Hong Kong (2018)

Croucher Senior Research Fellowship, Croucher Foundation (2017)