Mingpan Cheng

Representative research papers published in recent years:

1. Cheng, et.al., ACS Catal., 2023,13, 10722-10733.
2. Cheng, et.al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2021, 143, 7792-7807.
3. Cheng, et.al., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2021, 60, 10286-10294.
4. Cheng, et.al., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2021, 60, 10295-10303.
5. Cheng, et.al., Nucleic Acids Res., 2021, 49, 9548-9559.

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Dr. Cheng received his B.S. degree in Applied Chemistry from Huazhong Agricultural University in 2012 and Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018 under the supervision of Academician Li Can at the State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, where he investigated G-quadruplex (G4) DNA and chiral catalytic systems. After completing doctoral studies, Dr. Cheng conducted postdoctoral research at the State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Sciences at Nanjing University (2018), focusing on i-motif, G4, and G4/hemin DNAzyme mechanisms. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the European Institute of Chemistry and Biology (IECB) in France (2018–2020) with a focus on i-motif and G-quadruplex (G4) structural dynamics, followed by research work at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany (2020–2021), with a primary research focus on DNA bionanotechnology. In 2022, Dr. Cheng was appointed as Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the College of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University.

Dr. Cheng's research bridges chemical biology, nucleic acid nanotechnology, and translational medicine. His work centers on the dual roles of DNA—as programmable molecular architectures for biomedical engineering and as therapeutic targets in human diseases. Specific research thrusts encompass: a) Non-canonical nucleic acid systems: Investigating the folding dynamics and ligand interactions of G-quadruplex (G4), i-motif, and triplex structures to develop structure-specific probes for targeted cancer therapies and neurodegenerative disease diagnostics; b) DNA-enabled catalysis: Engineering DNAzymes and G4/hemin peroxidase mimics for environmental monitoring and point-of-care diagnostics, with emphasis on real-time detection of pathogens and metabolic biomarkers; c) Multiplexed Biodetection Systems: Developing programmable DNA scaffolds that integrate qPCR amplification with fluorescent signal cascades, enabling simultaneous quantification of pathogenic targets through structure-guided molecular recognition. Incorporates structural switching mechanisms to enhance signal orthogonality in clinical infection panels; d) Nucleic Acid-Targeting Theranostics: Engineering bifunctional fluorescent probes through systematic synthetic optimization, combining structure-specific recognition of G4/i-motif conformations with therapeutic modulation. Leverages DNA-templated nanocarriers for spatially controlled drug delivery in oncology and neurodegenerative disorders.