Research in Li lab lies at chemical proteomics and nucleic acid chemical biology, with an eye towards intervening in human diseases: 1) chemical probe design based on reactive metabolites, enzyme cofactors, and bioactive compound for proteomic profiling; 2) system biology platform development for novel biological pathway elucidation; 3) multiplexed activity profiling for biomarker discovery in clinical samples; 4) DNA-encoded small molecule library selection for specific enzyme inhibitor/probe discovery.

Gang developed targeted chemical proteomics platforms for spatially resolved enzyme activities mapping in single cells as well as ultrasensitive biomarker activity profiling in clinical samples. He is an inventor on a patent for multiplexed biomarker activity profiling in clinical samples for prognosis. He also built up a novel target identification platform using DNA-templated chemistry and an inhibitor discovery platform by integrating DNA-encoded dynamic library with Illumina sequencing. Gang’s work has been published in high impact journals such as Nature Communications, PNAS, Angewandte Chemie and Chemical Science.  

Representative papers:

Yansheng Zhai, Xinyu Zhang, Zijing Chen, Dingyuan Yan, Lin Zhu, Zhe Zhang, Xianghe Wang, Kailu Tian, Yan Huang, Xi Yang, Wen Sun, Dong Wang, Yu-Hsuan Tsai , Tuoping Luo, & Gang Li*, Global profiling of functional histidines in live cells using small molecule photosensitizer and chemical probe relay labeling, Nat. Chem. 2024, accepted.

Yansheng Zhai#, Xiaoyan Huang#, Keren Zhang, Yuchen Huang, Yanlong Jiang, Jingwei Cui, Zhe Zhang, Cookson Chiu, Weiye Zhong, Gang Li*, Spatiotemporal-resolved protein networks profiling with photoactivation dependent proximity labeling, Nat. Commun. 2022, 13, 4906.

Shaoshuai Xie, Gang Li*, A key to unlock ubiquitin ligase function, Nat. Chem. Biol. 2024, DOI : 10.1038/s41589-024-01591-8 (Invited News&Views).

Gang Li, Mark A. Eckert, Jae W. Chang, Jeffrey E. Montgomery, Agnieszka Chryplewicz, Ernest Lengyel, Raymond E. Moellering*, Ultrasensitive, multiplexed chemoproteomic profiling with soluble activity-dependent proximity ligation, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019, 116, 21493. 

Gang Li, Jeffrey E. Montgomery, Mark A. Eckert, Jae W. Chang, Sam M. Tienda, Ernest Lengyel, Raymond E. Moellering* , An activity-dependent proximity ligation platform for spatially resolved quantification of active enzymes in single cells, Nat. Commun. 2017, 8, 1775. 

Gang Li, Ying Liu, Yu Liu, Li Chen, Siyu Wu, Yang Liu, Xiaoyu Li*, Photoaffinity labeling of small-molecule-binding proteins by DNA-templated chemistry, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 9544. 

Gang Li#, Wenlu Zheng#, Zitian Chen#, Yu Zhou, Yu Liu, Junrui Yang, Yanyi Huang, Xiaoyu Li* , Design,