Positions

Director

Center for NextGen Therapeutics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Professor in Pharmacology

Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Professor

Molecular and Cellular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Member

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Addresses

1 Baylor Plaza (Office)

Room: Alkek N520.05
Houston, TX 77030
United States

Education

BS from Peking University

07/2003 - Beijing, China

Chemistry

PhD from The Ohio State University

12/2007 - Columbus, Ohio United States

Organic Chemistry

Postdoctoral Training at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

05/2011 - Chapel Hill, North Carolina United States

Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine

Honors & Awards

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Professorship in Pharmacology

Baylor College of Medicine (06/2021)

Teaching Award - Outstanding Lecturer

Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School (12/2020)

Teaching Award - Chemical Biology as the Best Course in the CPSB Program

Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School (12/2020)

Distinguished Faculty Award

Chinese American Chemistry & Chemical Biology Professors Association (CAPA) (12/2020)

CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research

Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) (07/2011)

Professional Interests

• Chemical Biology
• Sensors and Probes
• Small Molecule Drug Discovery
• Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs), Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD)
• Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs)
• Proteomics and Metabolomics
• Cancer Immunotherapies
• Auto-inflammatory and auto-immune diseases
• Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD)
• Metabolic diseases, such as obesity

Professional Statement

The overarching goal for my research is to develop new tools to address biological questions and new therapies to improve human health, taking advantage of the outstanding environment for biomedical research at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and my unique experience in drug discovery, chemical biology, cell biology and preclinical studies. During my independent career, my group developed the first fluorescent probe that can quantify glutathione concentrations in living cells. Our GSH probes have generated tremendous interest in the redox biology community and been shared with more than 150 laboratories around the globe. In collaboration with Dr. O’Malley, we developed a new class of small molecule inhibitors, termed as SI-2, for a large, non-structured nuclear protein--steroid receptor coactivator 3 (SRC-3), which is an important oncogene responsible for endocrine resistance, tumor proliferation, and metastasis. Furthermore, we recently discovered a novel strategy to enhance intracellular accumulation and target engagement for protein degraders (PROTACs). In collaboration with Dr. Zheng, we developed a novel inhibitor for soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) that is orally available and brain permeable to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Last but not least, we developed a highly efficient synthetic route for pladienolides, a class of RNA splicing modulators that can be used to inhibit MYC-driven triple-negative breast cancer.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Derek Rhoades, Arnold L. Rheingold, Bert W. O’Malley, and Jin Wang "Expedient Total Syntheses of Pladienolide-Derived Spliceosome Modulators." J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2021 Apr 7;143(13):4915-4920. Pubmed PMID: 33755462
• Wen-Hao Guo, Xiaoli Qi, Yang Liu, Chan-I Chung, Fang Bai, Xingcheng Lin, Lingfei Wang, Jianwei Chen, Krystle J. Nomie, Feng Li, Meng C. Wang, Xiaokun Shu, José N. Onuchic, Jennifer A. Woyach, Michael L. Wang, Jin Wang* "Enhancing intracellular accumulation and target engagement of PROTACs with reversible covalent chemistry." Nature Communications. 2020;11:4268. Pubmed PMID: 32848159
• Jiang X, Chen J, Bajić A, Zhang C, Song X, Carroll SL, Cai ZL, Tang M, Xue M, Cheng N, Schaaf CP, Li F, MacKenzie KR, Ferreon ACM, Xia F, Wang MC, Maletić-Savatić M, Wang J "Quantitative real-time imaging of glutathione." Nature Communications. 2017 Jul 13;8:16087. Pubmed PMID: 28703127
• Song X, Chen J, Zhao M, Zhang C, Yu Y, Lonard DM, Chow DC, Palzkill T, Xu J, O'Malley BW, Wang J. "Development of potent small-molecule inhibitors to drug the undruggable steroid receptor coactivator-3." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2016 May 3;113(18):4970-5. Pubmed PMID: 27084884

Funding

Development of First-in-Class RIPK1 Degraders to Improve Cancer Immunotherapies - #1R01CA268518-01

(06/01/2022 - 05/31/2027) Grant funding from NIH/NCI

RIP PROTACs as a Novel Immunotherapy Sensitizer to Treat Colorectal Cancer - #RP220480

(03/01/2022 - 02/28/2025) Grant funding from CPRIT

Developing Novel Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease - #U01AG068031

(09/15/2020 - 05/31/2025) Grant funding from NIH/NIA

Reversible Covalent BTK Degraders As the Next Generation Targeted Therapy To Treat B-Cell Malignancies - #R01CA250503

(07/01/2020 - 06/30/2025) Grant funding from NIH/NCI

Intellectual Property

Product Patent (Pending)

Co Inventors: Xiqian Jiang; Jianwei Chen

Product Patent (Approved)

Co Inventors: Fude Feng

Product Patent (Approved)

Co Inventors: Bert W. O’Malley, David M. Lonard, Jianming Xu, and Jianwei Chen

Product Patent (Pending)

Co Inventors: Jin Wang, Wen-Hao Guo, Xiaoli Qi, Michael Wang, Krystle Nomie, and Yang Yu

Product Patent (Pending)

Co Inventors: Jin Wang, Hui Zheng, Lisheng Deng, and Anamitra Ghosh