Zhenguang Zhao

Postdoctoral Fellow

Harvard University

Short Biography

Zhenguang Zhao, Ph.D., received his doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Professor Christina M. Woo in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on elucidating the enzymatic mechanism underlying the formation of the C-terminal cyclic imide degron, an endogenous recognition signal for the E3 ligase substrate adapter cereblon (CRBN). Dr. Zhao has a strong academic background and extensive research experience in peptide and protein chemistry, as well as chemical biology. His expertise includes the chemical synthesis and selective modification of peptides and proteins, the study of post-translational modifications (PTMs), and the development and application of cutting-edge technologies such as chemical biology tools and advanced proteomics. He has authored over ten peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals, including Nature Reviews Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, ACS Central Science, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, among others.

Presentation Topic: PCMT1 generates the C-terminal cyclic imide degron on CRBN substrates 
• PCMT1 catalyzes the enzymatic formation of the C-terminal cyclic imide degron.
• PCMT1 and CRBN co-regulate the degradation of metabolic enzymes GLUL and PPA1.
• Structural basis of GLUL-cN recognition by CRBN. 
• Loss of CRBN or PCMT1 leads to neurological phenotypes.
• CRBN-targeting drugs interfere with endogenous substrate degradation.