1982             B.S., Sichuan University, China

1984             M.S., Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

1992             Ph.D., University of Oregon.

1985 - 1987  Research Assistant, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China with Professor Jia-huai Wang.

1992 - 1995  Postdoctoral Associate, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon with Professor Brian W. Matthews.

1995 - 2000  Assistant Member, Crystallography Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

2000 - 2009  Associate Member, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

2009 - 2010  Member, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

2010 -           Professor, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2005 - 2009  S. Graham Smith Endowment Distinguished Scientist（Endowed Chair）

Dr. Zhang has been working in the field of protein crystallography since 1980s. In the Institute of Biophysics (IBP), CAS, he participated in the refinement of the crystal structure of trichosanthin, the second protein crystal structure determined by Chinese scientists. After getting his Ph.D. degree and doing postdoc research in the HHIM laboratory of Dr. Brian Matthews at University of Oregon, he became an independent principle investigator of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) in 1995. Research interests of his laboratory included proteases from the cardiovascular system and protein interactions in intracellular trafficking. In this period, his laboratory solved, among others, the crystal structures of streptokinase-plasmin complex and β-secretase both of which are of significant medical importance.

In 2010, Dr. Zhang returned to IBP and opened his new research laboratory focusing on the molecular mechanisms of membrane proteins including transporters and signal-transduction proteins such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR). Since 2013, Zhang’s laboratory has solved several crystal structures of three secondary active transporters from the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) and reported crystal structures of two membrane biogenesis-related membrane-integral enzymes. Recently, Dr. Zhang is interested in the structural bases of common energy-coupling mechanisms of major families of membrane proteins, including transporters and GPCRs. His laboratory uses X-ray crystallography and EM techniques to determine three-dimensional structures of these membrane proteins, and uses functional analyses such as in vitro transport assay and smFRET to address questions such as how ligand binding as well as membrane environment affect conformations of membrane proteins. The goals of his laboratory are two folds, obtaining functional mechanisms as general as possible for transporters and GPCR proteins, meanwhile providing detailed, novel structural insights for biomedical applications such as design of new antibiotics.

Dr. Zhang has co-authored over 100 peer reviewed research papers.

1. Cao C, Tan Q, Xu C, He L, Yang L, Zhou Y, Zhou Y, Qiao A, Lu M, Yi C, Han GW, Wang X, Li X, Yang H, Rao Z, Jiang H, Zhao Y, Liu J, Stevens RC, Zhao Q, Zhang XC*, Wu B*. Structural basis for signal recognition and transduction by platelet-activating-factor receptor. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2018. 25(6):488-495.

2. Han L, Zhu Y, Liu M, Zhou Y, Lu G, Lan L, Wang X, Zhao Y, Zhang XC*. Molecular mechanism of substrate recognition and transport by the AtSWEET13 sugar transporter. PNAS. 2017. 114(38):10089-10094.

3. Guangyuan Lu, Yingzhi Xu, Kai Zhang, Yong Xiong, He Li, Lei Cui, Xianping Wang, Jizhong Lou,Yujia Zhai, Fei Sun & Xuejun C.Zhang*. Crystal structure of E. coli apolipoprotein N-acyl transferase. Nature Commun. 2017. 8:15948.

4. Mao GT, Zhao Y, Kang XS, Li ZJ, Zhang Y, Wang XP, Sun F, Sankaran K, Zhang XC*. Crystal Structure of E. coli Lipoprotein Diacylglyceryl Transferase. Nature Commun. 2016. 7:10198.

5. Heng J, Zhao Y, Liu M, Liu Y, Fan J, Wang X, Zhao Y, Zhang XC*. Substrate-bound structure of the E. coli multidrug resistance transporter MdfA. Cell Res. 2015. 25(9):1060-73.

6. Zhao Y, Mao GT, Liu M, Wang XP, and Zhang XC*. Crystal Structure of the E. coli Peptide Transporter YbgH. Structure. 2014. 22(8): 1152.

7. Fan JP, Jiang DH, Zhao Y. Liu JF, and Zhang XC*. Crystal structure of lipid phosphatase Escherichia coli phosphatidylglycerophosphate phosphatase B. PNAS. 2014. 111(21): 7636-40.

8. Jiang DH, Zhao Y, Wang XP, Fan JP, Heng J, Liu XH, Feng W, Kang XS, Huang B, Liu JF, and Zhang XC*. Structure of the YajR transporter suggests a transport mechanism based on the conserved motif A. PNAS. 2013. 110(36):14664-9.

(From Dongcai Liang, March 22, 2019)