Wen Zhu Lab
@wenzhulab.bsky.social
Wen Zhu Lab @ Florida State University | Translational Enzymology & Drug Discovery | Student run account | www.wzhulab.com
Thrilled to share that our pilot project has been funded by NIH! We’re grateful for the support from NINDS and excited to advance our work on understudied proteins and their role in rare neurological disease.
Congratulations to Sarai Faulkner, who has been selected to receive this year's Katherine Blood Hoffman Excellence Awards!🎉🎉
We got to see our undergrad, Avery, perform in the FSU circus! It was amazing 🎪🎪
Four undergraduate researchers presented three posters today at two fantastic campus events: the Undergraduate Research Symposium and the WIMSE Research Symposium. We couldn’t be prouder!!
New preprint! We report the characterization of a radical SAM enzyme in the bacterial pathogen, Moraxella catarrhalis. A fantastic collaboration with the Britt Lab and de Crécy-Lagard Lab. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
February is Rare Disease Month 💜 In collaboration with Takagi Lab, we show that conformational remodeling underlies activity loss in an asparagine synthetase variant that causes asparagine synthetase deficiency, a rare neurometabolic disease. biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #RareDisease
biorxiv.org
Snapshot of the microscope view of plaque assay results, which is a quantitative test for baculovirus titer.
Our tree is extra special this year! We decorated it with publications from all six labs on our floor. Cheers to a year full of hard work and discoveries!
A fire at the Seminole Social apartment complex has left some PhD students at Florida State University without a home. Please consider donating or sharing to support them during this difficult time. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. gofund.me/ab3fba3b8
Donate to Support FSU PhD Students After Fire Tragedy, organized by Charlie Mloy
My name is Charlie McCloy and I am a first year chemistry PhD student at Flor… Charlie Mloy needs your support for Support FSU PhD Students After Fire Tragedy
gofund.me
Official warm welcome to Sarai, a first year PhD student who joined our lab this semester 👩🔬😊
We had a great time at the Tallahassee Science Festival today! The kids learned what an amino acid is and made a keychain or bracelet corresponding to the chemical formula of an amino acid.👩🔬🧑🔬
#RareDiseaseThursday Mutations in SMPD1 disrupt acid sphingomyelinase, leading to Niemann-Pick disease type A, a devastating lysosomal storage disorder. Lipids accumulate in cells, causing neurodegeneration, hepatosplenomegaly, and failure to thrive in infancy.
Check out our latest preprint on an unexpected mechanism of a potent ASNS inhibitor: Cryo-EM reveals how ASX-173 inhibits human asparagine synthetase to activate the integrated stress response www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cryo-EM reveals how ASX-173 inhibits human asparagine synthetase to activate the integrated stress response
Targeting asparagine metabolism is a promising strategy for treating asparaginase-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), sarcoma, and potentially other solid tumors. Here, we characterize the m...
biorxiv.org
Passionate about enzyme structure, function, and dynamics, and applying that knowledge to drug discovery? 💊🧬🧫🧪 We’re recruiting a Postdoc! Come join us! Apply: wzhulab.com/contact #PostdocJobs #Biochemistry #Enzymology #Metalloenzymes #ProteinDynamics
Contact — Wen Zhu Laboratory
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wzhulab.com
Today in our #RareDiseaseThursday spotlight: Argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency (ASSD), a urea cycle disorder caused by pathogenic variants in ASS1, impairing the conversion of citrulline+aspartate to argininosuccinate. This leads to long-term neurological damage.
Congrats Wen! 🎉🎉➡️FSU chemist earns $2.1 million NIH grant to investigate molecular causes of disease: news.fsu.edu/news/science...
FSU chemist earns $2.1 million NIH grant to investigate molecular causes of disease
A Florida State University researcher has received a multi-million-dollar grant to investigate the role enzymes — which influence nearly every process in
news.fsu.edu
Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) uniquely powers both the TCA cycle & electron transport chain. SDH mutations cause SDH deficiency, disrupting energy metabolism & leading to developmental delays. #RareDiseaseThursday
KARS1 encodes lysyl-tRNA synthetase. Biallelic KARS mutations cause KARS syndrome, a severe disorder that affects multiple organs, particularly the nervous system. #RareDiseaseThursday
Congratulations to Julia and Adwaith for completing the 2025 Young Scholar Program and research symposium. It was a joy having you both in lab and we are very proud of you!
Transaldolase deficiency is a rare metabolic disorder affecting the pentose phosphate pathway, leading to liver dysfunction, growth delays, and skin abnormalities. It’s caused by mutations in the TALDO1 gene. Early diagnosis is key to managing symptoms. #RareDiseaseThursday
#RareDiseaseThursday Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (RPI) deficiency is one of the rarest inborn errors of metabolism. Still no cure. It affects the pentose phosphate pathway, leading to impaired RNA synthesis or accumulation of D-ribitol and D-arabitol.
🤔 What if classic probability puzzles could be encoded in chemistry? We mapped the Monty Hall problem into a deterministic chemical reaction network using mass-action kinetics. Curious? ... then check out our latest paper with @wenzhulab.bsky.social in @pccp.rsc.org doi.org/10.1039/D5CP...
So excited that our work has already inspired one young girl to fall in love with science!
Welcome to our #ColorMyMetalloE coloring series. This is an interactive adventure that brings the hidden world of metalloenzymes to life! You can also explore various existing careers as a chemist! Simply download the PDF, grab your favorite coloring tools, and let your creativity flow.