Professor of Chemistry

Email: wuyuzhou@hust.edu.cn

Academic Areas: Hybrid nanomaterials, nanobiotechnology, artificial enzyme

Yuzhou Wu is a Professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). She graduated from Zhejiang University and obtained a Master’s degree from the National University of Singapore and a Ph.D. degree from Ulm University in Germany. Before joining HUST, she worked as a project leader at Ulm University and at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research from 2013 to 2016.

Her research interests include nanobio interface engineering, novel chemical methods for functionalization of protein and DNA nanostructures, and nature-inspired nanofabrication techniques for precision nanomedicine. She has published over 70 papers in the leading chemistry journals such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., ACS Catal. She was the recipient of a number of awards, including Summa Cum Laude, Forschungsboni der Ulmer Universitätsgesellschaft, Promotionspreis der Ulmer Universitätsgesellschaft, Reaxys Phd Prize finalist award, Finalists of the Lanxess Talent award.

Academic Degrees

2010-2013

PhD (Summa Cum Laude), Ulm University

2008-2010

Master, National University of Singapore

2004-2008

BS in Chemistry, Zhejiang University

Professional Experience

2016-now

Professor of chemistry, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

2015-2018

Group leader in Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

2013-2015

Group leader in Institute of Organic Chemistry III, Ulm University, Germany

Courses Taught

1.Chemical Biology (for undergraduate student)

2.Experimental general chemistry (for undergraduate student)

Awards and Honors

2015

Forschungsboni der Ulmer Universitätsgesellschaft

2014

Promotionspreis der Ulmer Universitätsgesellschaft

2013

Finalist of Reaxys PhD Prize

2013

Finalist of the Lanxess Talent award

Selected Projects Funded

1.National Key R&D Program of China

2.National Science Foundation of China

Selected Publications

[1]Liandong Feng, Shanshan Wu, and Yuzhou Wu*, Intracellular bottom-up Synthesis of Ultrasmall CuS Nanodots in Cancer Cells for Simultaneous Photothermal Therapy and COX-2 Inactivation, Adv. Funct. Mater., 10.1002/adfm.202101297.

[2]Colette J. Whitfield, Meizhou Zhang, Pia Winterwerber, Yuzhou Wu*, David Y. W. Ng*, and Tanja Weil* Chem. Rev. 2021, 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c01074.

[3]Yu Fu,# Jian Huang,# Yuzhou Wu,* Xiaohong Liu,* Fangrui Zhong,* and Jiangyun Wang*, “Biocatalytic Cross-Coupling of Aryl Halides with a Genetically Engineered Photosensitizer Artificial Dehalogenase” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 617.

[4]Xunbo Lu, Yulong Bai, Jingyang Qin, Nan Wang, Yuzhou Wu,* and Fangrui Zhong*, “Alleviating Catalyst Decay Enables Efficient Intermolecular C(sp3)−H Amination under Mechanochemical Conditions” ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng, 2021, 9, 1684-1691.

[5]Tai-Ping Zhou, Fangrui Zhong,* Yuzhou Wu and Rong-Zhen Liao,* “Regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of intramolecular [2 + 2] photocycloaddition catalyzed by chiral thioxanthone: a quantum chemical study”, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2021,19, 1532-1540

[6]So Yeon Ahn, Jin Liu, Srivithya Vellampatti, Yuzhou Wu*, Soong Ho Um* DNA Transformations for Diagnosis and Therapy, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31, 2008279.

[7]Qianqian Liu, Yu-Jin Kim, Gwang-Bum Im, Jintao Zhu, Yuzhou Wu, Yijing Liu,* Suk Ho Bhang* Inorganic Nanoparticles Applied as Functional Therapeutics, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31, 2008171.

[8]Shanshan Wu, Meizhou Zhang , Jie Song, Stefan Weber, Xiaoguo Liu, Chunhai Fan, and Yuzhou Wu*, Fine Customization of Calcium Phosphate Nanostructures with Site-Specific Modification by DNA Templated Mineralization, ACS Nano 2021, 15, 1, 1555.

[9]Wanying Ye, Haijie Han, Huan Li, Qiao Jin, *, Yuzhou Wu, Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Tanja Weil, Jian Ji, Polymer coated nanodiamonds as gemcitabine prodrug with enzymatic sensitivity for pancreatic cancer treatment, Progress in Natural Science: Materials International, 2020, 30, 711.

[10]Longjie Li, ‡ Wenkai Zhang,‡ Xiaofeng Tang, Zejian Li, Yuzhou Wu,* Xianjin Xiao* Fine and bidirectional regulation of toehold-mediated DNA strand displacement by a wedge-like DNA tool, Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 8794.

[11]Adnan Bashir, Honghua Zuo, Xunbo Lu, Yuzhou Wu, Fangrui Zhong*, Harnessing structurally unbiased ortho-benzoquinone monoimine for biomimetic oxidative [4+2] cycloaddition with enamines, Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 5965.

[12]Ahmed El-Harairy,* Mennatallah Shaheen, Jun Li, Yuzhou Wu, Minghao Li, Yanlong Gu, Synthesis of α-indolylacrylates as potential anticancer agents using a Bronsted acid ionic liquid catalyst and the butyl acetate solvent. RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 13507.

[13]Juan Guo, Huan Guo, Jin Liu*, Fangrui Zhong and Yuzhou Wu*, Manganese(II) Oxidizing Bacteria as Whole-Cell Catalyst for beta -Keto Ester Oxidation, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 1709.

[14]Yuan Zhuang, Longjie Li, Liandong Feng, Shuangshuang Wang, Huimin Su, Haijuan Liu, Hongmei Liu* and Yuzhou Wu*, Mitochondrion-targeted selenium nanoparticles enhance reactive oxygen species-mediated cell death, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 1389.

[15]Xuemei Xu, Pia Winterwerber, David Ng, Yuzhou Wu*, DNA-Programmed Chemical Synthesis of Polymers and Inorganic Nanomaterials, Top. Curr. Chem. 2020, 378, 31.

[16]Jessica Wagner, Longjie Li, Johanna Simon, Lea Krutzke, Katharina Landfester, Volker Mail-nder, Klaus Mgllen, David Y. W. Ng,* Yuzhou Wu,* and Tanja Weil* Amphiphilic Polyphenylene Dendron Conjugates for Surface Remodeling of Adenovirus 5, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 5712.

[17]Yuzhou Wu*, Longjie Li, Larissa Frank, Jessica Wagner, Patrizia Andreozzi, Brenton Hammer, Marco D’Alicarnasso, Maria Pelliccia, Weina Liu, Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Silke Krol, Johanna, Simon, Katharina Landfester, Seah Ling Kuan, Francesco Stellacci, Klaus Müllen, Florian Kreppel*, Tanja Weil*, Patchy Amphiphilic Dendrimers Bind Adenovirus and Control Its Host Interactions and in Vivo Distribution, ACS Nano, 2019, 13, 8749.

[18]Xuemei Xu, Shiqi Fang, Yuan Zhuang, Shanshan Wu, Qingling Pan, Longjie Li, Xiaohui Wang, Xueqing Sun, Bifeng Liu, Yuzhou Wu*, Cationic Albumin Encapsulated DNA Origami for Enhanced Cellular Transfection and Stability, Materials, 2019, 12, 949.

[19]Yan Li, Longjie Li, Xunbo Lu, Yulong Bai, Yufan Wang, Yuzhou Wu* and Fangrui Zhong* "Bioinspired radical cyclization of tryptamines: synthesis of peroxypyrroloindolenines as potential anti-cancer agents" Chem. Commun., 2019, 55, 63.

[20]Qile Yu, Yu Fu, Jianjian Huang, Jingyang Qin, Honghua Zuo, Yuzhou Wu*, Fangrui Zhong*, "Enantioselective Oxidative Phenol-Indole [3+ 2] Coupling Enabled by Biomimetic Mn (III)/Brønsted Acid Relay Catalysis" ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 7285

[21]Tanghui Duan, Liu He, Yu Tokura, Xin Liu, Yuzhou Wu*, Zhengshuang Shi*. Construction of tunable peptide nucleic acid junctions. Chem. Commun., 2018, 54, 2846.

[22]Yu Tokura^#, Sean Harvey^#, Chaojian Chen, Yuzhou Wu*, David Y. W. Ng*, Tanja Weil*. Fabrication of Defined Polydopamine Nanostructures by DNA Origami-Templated Polymerization. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 1587 –1591.

[23]Yu Tokura, Sean Harvey, Yuzhou Wu, * David Y. W. Ng *,Tanja Weil *.Polymer tube nanoreactors via DNA-origami templated synthesis. Chem. Commun., 2018, 54, 2808.

[24]Weina Liu, Felix Boldt, Yu Tokura, Tao Wang, Bikram Keshari Agrawalla, Yuzhou Wu* and Tanja Weil*, Encoding function into polypeptide-oligonucleotide precision biopolymers, Chem. Commun., 2018, 54, 11797-11800.

[25]Sylvia Schmid,* Jasmina Gačanin, Yuzhou Wu, Tanja Weilbd, Peter Bäuerlea. Synthesis and bioconjugation of first alkynylated poly(dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]pyrrole)s. Polym. Chem., 2017,8, 7113-7118.

[26]David Y. W. Ng*, Roman Vill, Yuzhou Wu, Kaloian Koynov, Yu Tokura, Weina Liu, Susanne Sihler, Andreas Kreyes, Sandra Ritz, Holger Barth, Ulrich Ziener*, Tanja Weil*. Directing intracellular supramolecular assembly with N-heteroaromatic quaterthiophene analogues. Nature Communications, 2017, 8: 1850.

[27]Jasmina Gačanin, Anna Kovtun, Stephan Fischer, Victoria Schwager, Johanna Quambusch, Seah Ling Kuan, Weina Liu, Felix Boldt, Chuang Li, Zhongqiang Yang, Dongsheng Liu, Yuzhou Wu*, Holger Barth*, Anita Ignatius*. Spatiotemporally Controlled Release of Rho-Inhibiting C3 Toxin from a Protein–DNA Hybrid Hydrogel for Targeted Inhibition of Osteoclast Formation and Activity. Adv. Healthcare Mater. 2017, 6, 17.

[28]Brenton A. G. Hammer, Yuzhou Wu, Stephan Fischer, Weina Liu, Tanja Weil*, Klaus Müllen*. Controlling Cellular Uptake and Toxicity of Polyphenylene Dendrimers by Chemical Functionalization. Chembiochem, 2017, 18(10), 960-964.

[29]Zhi Zuo, Tatiana Syrovets, Yuzhou Wu, Susanne Hafner, Ina Vernikouskaya, Weina Liu, Genshan Ma, Tanja Weil, Thomas Simmet, Volker Rasche*. The CAM cancer xenograft as a model for initial evaluation of MR labelled compounds. Scientific Reports, 2017,7:4669

[30]Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Miguel Sison, Yuzhou Wu, Anita Ladenburger, Goutam Pramanik, Johannes Biskupek, Jerome Extermann, Ute Kaiser, Theo Lasser, Tanja Weil*. NIR-emitting and photo-thermal active nanogold as mitochondria-specific probes. Biomater. Sci., 2017, 5, 966-971.

[31]Yuzhou Wu, Tanja Weil, Nanodiamonds for Biological Applications, Physical Sciences Reviews, 2017, DOI: 10.1515/9783110284645-009.

[32]Beatriz Pelaz, Christoph Alexiou, Ramón A Alvarez-Puebla, … Yuzhou Wu, …Wolfgang J. Parak*, Diverse Applications of Nanomedicine, ACS Nano, 2017, 11(3), 2313-2381.

[33]Yuzhou Wu*, Fedor Jelezko, Martin Plenio, Tanja Weil*, Diamond Quantum Devices in Biology, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 6586-6598.

[34]Yu Tokura^#, Yanyan Jiang^#, Alexander Welle, Martina H Stenzel, Katarzyna Krzemien, Jens Michaelis, Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Yuzhou Wu*, Tanja Weil*, Bottom-up Fabrication of Nanopatterned Polymers on DNA Origami Nanotile by In-situ Atom Transfer Radical polymerization. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016,55, 5692-5697.

[35]Weina Liu, Boris Naydenov, Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Bettina Wuensch, Kristina Hübner, Sandra Ritz, Helmut Cölfen, Holger Barth, Kaloian Koynov, Haoyuan Qi, Robert Leiter, Rolf Reuter, Jörg Wrachtrup, Felix Boldt, Jonas Scheuer, Ute Kaiser, Miguel Sison, Theo Lasser, Philip Tinnefeld, Fedor Jelezko, Paul Walther, Yuzhou Wu*, and Tanja Weil*. Fluorescent Nanodiamond–Gold Hybrid Particles for Multimodal Optical and Electron Microscopy Cellular Imaging. Nano Lett., 2016, 16 (10), 6236–6244.

[36]Sylvia Schmid*, David. Y. W. Ng, Elena. Mena-Osteritz, Yuzhou Wu, Tanja Weil, Peter Bäuerle, Self-assembling oligothiophene–bolaamphiphiles for loading and controlled release of doxorubicin into living cells. Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 3235-3238.

[37]Christiane Seidler, David. Y. W. Ng, Yuzhou Wu and Tanja Weil*. pH responsive supramolecular core-shell protein hybrids, Supramolecular Chemistry, 2016, 28(9-10), 742-746.

[38]Seah Ling Kuan, Christina Förtsch, David Y. W. Ng, Stephan Fischer, Yu Tokura, Weina Liu, Yuzhou Wu, Kaloian Koynov, Holger Barth, Tanja Weil*, A supramolecular approach toward bioinspired PAMAM-dendronized fusion toxins, Macromol. Biosci. 2016, 16, 803−810.

[39]Tao Wang^#, Andreas Riegger^#, Markus Lamla, Sebastian Wiese, Patrick Oeckl, Markus Otto, Yuzhou Wu, Stephan Fischer, Holger Barth, Seah Ling Kuan, Tanja Weil*, Water-soluble allyl sulfones for dual site-specific labelling of proteins and cyclic peptides, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 3234-3239.

[40]Felix Boldt, Weina Liu, Yuzhou Wu*, Tanja Weil*. Converting Human Proteins into Precision Polymer Therapeutics. Curr Pharm Des., 2016, 22, 2866-2872.

[41]David Palesch, Felix Boldt, Janis A. Müller, Klaus Eisele, Christina M. Stürzel, Yuzhou Wu*, Jan Münch*, Tanja Weil*. PEGylated cationic serum albumin to boost retroviral gene transfer. ChemBioChem, 2016, 17(16), 1504-1508.

[42]Tao Wang, Yuzhou Wu, Seah Ling Kuan, Oliver Dumele, Markus Lamla, David Y. W. Ng, Matthias Arzt, Jessica Thomas, Jan. O. Mueller, Christopher Barner-Kowollik*, Tanja Weil*, A Disulfide Intercalator Toolbox for Site-Directed Polypeptide Modification, Chemistry – a European Journal, 2015, 21, 228-238.

[43]Tao Wang, Yuzhou Wu, MarkusLamla, David Y. W.Ng,* Sven Rau* and TanjaWeil*, Receptor Selective Ruthenium-Somatostatin Photosensitizer for Cancer Targeted Photodynamic Applications, Chem. Commun. 2015, 51, 12552-12555.

[44]Tao Zhang, Yuzhou Wu, Alexander Högele*, Tanja Weil* and Tim Liedl*, DNA-based self-assembly of fluorescent nanodiamonds, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 31, 9776–9779.

[45]Yuzhou Wu*, Fedor Jelezko*, Tanja Weil*, Programmable Biopolymers for Advancing Biomedical Applications of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 25, 6576–6585.

[46]Yuzhou Wu, David Yuen Wah Ng, Seah Ling Kuan, Tanja Weil*, “Protein-Polymer Therapeutics – A Macromolecular Perspective”, Biomaterials Science, 2015, 3, 214-230.

[47]René Stangenberg^#, Yuzhou Wu^#, Seah Ling Kuan, Dennis Kurzbach, Dariush Hinderberger, Jana Hedrich, Malin Insa Preiß, Heiko J. Luhmann, Tanja Weil* and Klaus Müllen*, A Polyphenylene Dendrimer Drug Transporter with Precisely Positioned Amphiphilic Surface Patches. Adv. Healthcare Mater. 2015, 4, 377–384.

[48]Yuzhou Wu*, Chuang Li, Felix Boldt, Christina Förtsch, Holger Barth, Yanran Wang, Seah Ling Kuan, Thuy Tam Tran, Viktoria Mikhalevich, Zhongqiang Yang, Dongsheng Liu*, Tanja Weil*. Programmable protein–DNA hybrid hydrogels for the immobilization and release of functional proteins. Chem. Commun., 2014,50, 14620-14622.

[49]David Yuen Wah Ng^#, Yuzhou Wu^#, Seah Ling Kuan and Tanja Weil*. Programming Supramolecular Biohybrids as Precision Therapeutics. Acc. Chem. Res., 2014, 47, 3471-3480. (#Shared first authorship).

[50]Chuang Li, Ping Chen, Yu Shao, Xu Zhou, Yuzhou Wu, Zhongqiang Yang, Zhibo Li, Tanja Weil, Dongsheng Liu*, A writable polypeptide-DNA hydrogel with rationally designed multi-modification sites, Small, 2014, 11, 1138-1143.

[51]Tao Wang, David Y. W. Ng, Yuzhou Wu, Jessica Thomas, Thuy TamTran and Tanja Weil*. Bis-sulfide bioconjugates for glutathione triggered tumor responsive drug release. Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 1116-1118.

[52]David Y. W. Ng, Matthias Arzt, Yuzhou Wu, Seah Ling Kuan, Markus Lamla, Tanja Weil*. Constructing Hybrid Protein Zymogens through Protective Dendritic Assembly. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 324-328.

[53]Christoph Meier, Yuzhou Wu, Goutam Pramanik, Tanja Weil*. Self-Assembly of High Molecular Weight Polypeptide Copolymers Studied via Diffusion Limited Aggregation. Biomacromolecules, 2014, 15, 219-227.

[54]David Y. W. Ng, Jörg Fahrer, Yuzhou Wu, Klaus Eisele, Seah Ling Kuan, Holger Barth*, Tanja Weil*. Efficient Delivery of P53 and Cytochrome C by Supramolecular Assembly of a Dendritic Multi-Domain Delivery System. Adv. Healthcare Mater., 2014, 2, 1620-1629.

[55]Yuzhou Wu, Susann Ihme, Michaela Feuring-Buske, Seah Ling Kuan, Klaus Eisele, Markus Lamla, Yanran Wang, Christian Buske, Tanja Weil*. A Core-shell Albumin Copolymer Nanotransporter for High Capacity Loading and Two-step Release of Doxorubicin with Enhanced Anti‐Leukemia Activity. Adv. Healthcare Mater. 2013, 2, 884–894.

[56]Diego Pesce#, Yuzhou Wu#, Anke Kolbe, Tanja Weil* and Andreas Herrmann*. Enhancing Cellular Uptake of GFP via Unfolded Supercharged Protein Tags. Biomaterials, 2013, 34, 4360. (#Shared first authorship)

[57]Seah Ling Kuan, David Y. W. Ng, Yuzhou Wu, Christina Förtsch, Holger Barth, Mikheil Doroshenko, Kaloian Koynov, Christoph Meier, Tanja Weil*.pH Responsive Janus-like Supramolecular Fusion Proteins for Functional Protein Delivery. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135 (46), 17254–17257.

[58]Jana Hedrich, Yuzhou Wu, Manfred Schmidt. Polymer Complexes in Biological Applications. Adv. Polym. Sci. 2013, doi: 10.1007/12_2013_229. (Book Chapter).

[59]Tao Wang, Yuzhou Wu, Tanja Weil*. A Versatile and Orthogonal Approach for the Cross-Conjugation of DNA, Proteins and Peptides via the pH Switch. Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 1889-1894.

[60]Seah Ling Kuan, Yuzhou Wu, Tanja Weil*. Precision Biopolymers from Protein Precursors for Biomedical Applications. Macromol Rapid Commun., 2013, 34, 380.

[61]Seah Ling Kuan, Bettina Stöckle, David Y.W. Ng, Yuzhou Wu, Mikheil Doroshenko, Jörg Reichenwallner, Kaloian Koynov, Dariush Hinderberger, Klaus Müllen, Tanja Weil*. Dendronized Albumin Biohybrids as Efficient Core-Shell Doxorubicin Delivery Systems, Biomacromolecules, 2013, 14 (2): 367–376.

[62]Yuzhou Wu, Klaus Eisele, Mikheil Doroshenko, Gerardo Algara-Siller, Ute Kaiser, Kaloian Koynov, Tanja Weil*. A Quantum Dot Photoswitch for DNA Detection, Gene Transfection, and Live-Cell Imaging. Small, 2012, 8(22): 3465–3475. (Cover article)

[63]Yuzhou Wu, Goutam Pramanik, Klaus Eisele, Tanja Weil*. Convenient Approach to Polypeptide Copolymers Derived from Native Proteins. Biomacromolecules, 2012, 13(6):1890-1898.

[64]Yuzhou Wu, Tao Wang, David Y.W. Ng, Tanja Weil*. Multifunctional Polypeptide-PEO Nanoreactors via the Hydrophobic Switch. Macromol. Rapid Commun., 2012, 33(17):1474-1481.

[65]Yuzhou Wu, Tanja Weil*. An Efficient Approach for Preparing Giant Polypeptide Triblock Copolymers by Protein Dimerization. Macromol. Rapid Commun., 2012, 33(15):1304-1309.

[66]Yuzhou Wu, Kai Shih Er, Arvind Ramanathan, Subhash Vasudevan, Tanja Weil*. Nano-sized Albumin-copolymer Micelles for Efficient Doxorubicin Delivery. Biointerphases. 2012, 7(1-4):5.

[67]Yasar Akdogan, Yuzhou Wu, Klaus Eisele, Manuela Schaz, Tanja Weil* and Dariush Hinderberger*. Host-Guest Interactions in Polycationic Human Serum Albumin Bioconjugates. Soft Matter, 2012, 8(43): 11106-11114.

[68]Tanja Weil, Goutam Pramanik, Yuzhou Wu. Protein-based copolymers for bioimaging and drug delivery applications. Polymer Preprints (American Chemical Society, Division of Polymer Chemistry), 2011, 52(1): no page given.

[69]Yuzhou Wu, Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Radu A. Gropeanu, Joerg Wilhelmi, Yang Xu, Kai Shih Er, Seah Ling Kuan, Kaloian Koynov, Yinthai Chan* and Tanja Weil*. pH-Responsive Quantum Dots via an Albumin Polymer Surface Coating, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 51(1): 786-787.