Project1: Genome mining based discovery of marine microbial natural product Leading the buildup of research team for the discovery of marine natural product. Designing the project “Genome mining based discovery of marine microbial natural product" aloneLeading the establishment of a bioinformatic platform for mining the biosynthetic pathway of marine microbial natural product and a workflow for high-throughput screening of antibacterial peptides. Project 2: Development of camelid single domain antibodies against PCSK9 for therapeutic drugs By gene engineering single domain antibodies (sdAbs) were cloned from camel sera, which correspond to the variable region of heavy chain and possess high antigen-binding affinity. In the constructed natural sdAb library, phage display was applied to screen the positive clones and its affinity were confirmed by ELISA. Here one sdAb candidate was selected for further development of antilipemic drugs.

Project: Proteomic analysis of the Candida albicans secretome and its antigenic properties in the human host Seven C. albicans extracellular antigens were identified as promising diagnostic biomarker candidates for the diagnosis and prognosis of candidemia. In particularly, the mechanism underlying the high cross-reactivities of C. albicans extracellular antigens was elucidated, which facilitates the development of novel diagnostic biomarker for candidemia.Project: Pathogenic mechanism of Candida albicans Extracellular Candida albicans protein Ece1 processed Ece1p-III peptide, namely candidalysin, was identified as the first fungal cytolytic peptide toxin. It can damage epithelial membranes directly and trigger a danger response pathway to activate epithelial immunity. It is confirmed, that Candidalysin plays a crucial role in mucosal invasion and damage during Candida infection. Our research results were published in Nature in April 2016.