Contact

• workRoom C04 Boots Science Building
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 9515031
• Zheying.Zhu@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

I obtained BSc and MSc from China Pharmaceutical University, following which I was appointed as Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at the same university. I attained my PhD in the School of Pharmacy, The Robert Gordon University (Scotland, UK). After completing my PhD studies, I had worked in the Department of Pharmacy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, at a spin-out R&D Pharm company, King's College London, and Centre of Therapeutics and Toxicology, Imperial College London, where focused on development of label-free quantitative Proteomics with its application for toxicology research in the laboratory of Professor Allan Boobis. Later I was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology in the Department of Life Sciences, University of Bedfordshire, developing and leading the MSc Pharmacology course successfully. In 2016 I joined the School of Pharmacy at Nottingham as Associate Professor and the course Director of the BSc International Pharmacy, a part of the first UK-China Joint Clinical Pharmacy program.

Teaching Summary

New course development & management:

BSc International Pharmacy TUTCM

Module teaching delivery and management:

Lectures/workshops: BSc International Pharmacy Year 1; MPharm/BSc Year 2; BSc/MSci Pharmaceutical Science Year 3

Research Summary

My current research interest lies in drug development and understanding molecular mechanism of Alzheimer's disease and other aging associated diseases, in particular, development of in vitro and in… read more

Recent Publications

• YAO, H., URAS, GIUSEPPE, ZHANG, PENGFEI, XU, SHENGTAO, YIN, YING, LIU, JIE, QIN, SHUAI, LI, XINOU, ALLEN, STEPHANIE, BAI, RENREN, GONG, QI, ZHANG, HAIYAN, ZHU, ZHEYING and XU, JINYI, 2021. Discovery of novel tacrine-pyrimidone hybrids as potent dual AChE/GSK-3 inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. (In Press.)
• LU, LI, HAO, KUN, HONG, YU, LIU, JIE, ZHU, JINWEI, JIANG, WENJIAO, ZHU, ZHEYING, WANG, GUANGJI and PENG, YING, 2021. Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate reduces hepatic lipotoxicity through regulating metabolic abnormalities International Journal of Molecular Sciences. (In Press.)
• URAS, GIUSEPPE, MANCA, ALESSIA, ZHANG, PENGFEI, MARKUS, ZSUZSA, MACK, NATALIE, ALLEN, STEPHANIE, BO, MARCO, XU, SHENGTAO, XU, JINYL, GEORGIOU, MARIOS and ZHU, ZHEYING, 2021. In vivo evaluation of a newly synthesized acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in a transgenic Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease Frontiers in Neuroscience. (In Press.)
• VRETTOS, NAPOLEON-NIKOLAOS, ROBERTS, CLIVE J. and ZHU, ZHEYING, 2021. Gastroretentive technologies in tandem with controlled-release strategies: A potent answer to oral drug bioavailability and patient compliance implications, Pharmaceutics.

• View all publications

Current Research

My current research interest lies in drug development and understanding molecular mechanism of Alzheimer's disease and other aging associated diseases, in particular, development of in vitro and in vivo models for screening and pre-clinical evaluation of novel therapeutics (small drug compounds, gene therapy), through integrated application of multi-omics (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) techniques (LC-MS, OrbiSIMS, AP-MALDI) together with imaging tools. AI and machine learning techniques are explored to predict BBB permeation of drug molecules and toxicity.

Another focus of drug development is formulation and delivery systems, these include targeted delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics (iv; intranasal); nanomedicine; orally drug controlled release; transdermal/intradermal delivery for drugs and skincare products.

The research projects currently available in my group include:

1) Using AI and molecular biology tools to investigate human aging process and develop novel approaches or therapeutics for anti-aging of brain, skin or others.

2) Novel drug targets and molecular mechanism for Alzheimer's disease, involved in neuron regeneration, neuroinflammation, or stroke.

3) Gene based therapies for Alzheimer's disease and development of their delivery systems

4) The use of PROTACs technique to discover and develop novel drug candidates for Alzheimer's disease

5) The use of Drosophila melanogaster models to identify and evaluate novel therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease

We are always looking for new research members to join the group to experience the excitement of research and make new discoveries. Places for research students (PhD or MRes) are available on all the above projects. Please get in touch to discuss if you are interested in the research areas. For international students, there are scholarship schemes to receive support, please get in touch for up to date information.

• YAO, H., URAS, GIUSEPPE, ZHANG, PENGFEI, XU, SHENGTAO, YIN, YING, LIU, JIE, QIN, SHUAI, LI, XINOU, ALLEN, STEPHANIE, BAI, RENREN, GONG, QI, ZHANG, HAIYAN, ZHU, ZHEYING and XU, JINYI, 2021. Discovery of novel tacrine-pyrimidone hybrids as potent dual AChE/GSK-3 inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. (In Press.)
• LU, LI, HAO, KUN, HONG, YU, LIU, JIE, ZHU, JINWEI, JIANG, WENJIAO, ZHU, ZHEYING, WANG, GUANGJI and PENG, YING, 2021. Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate reduces hepatic lipotoxicity through regulating metabolic abnormalities International Journal of Molecular Sciences. (In Press.)
• URAS, GIUSEPPE, MANCA, ALESSIA, ZHANG, PENGFEI, MARKUS, ZSUZSA, MACK, NATALIE, ALLEN, STEPHANIE, BO, MARCO, XU, SHENGTAO, XU, JINYL, GEORGIOU, MARIOS and ZHU, ZHEYING, 2021. In vivo evaluation of a newly synthesized acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in a transgenic Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease Frontiers in Neuroscience. (In Press.)
• VRETTOS, NAPOLEON-NIKOLAOS, ROBERTS, CLIVE J. and ZHU, ZHEYING, 2021. Gastroretentive technologies in tandem with controlled-release strategies: A potent answer to oral drug bioavailability and patient compliance implications, Pharmaceutics.
• J CHEN, T WANG, S XU, A LIN, H TAO, W XIE, Z ZHU and J XU, 2017. Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel nitric oxide-donating protoberberine derivatives as anti-tumor agents European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 132, 173-183
• J CHEN, R WANG, T WANG, Q DING, A KHALIL, S XU, A LIN, H YAO, W XIE, Z ZHU and J XU, 2017. Antioxidant properties of novel dimers derived from natural β-elemene through inhibiting H2O2-induced apoptosis ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 8(4), 443-448
• J CHEN, T WANG, S XU, P ZHANG, A LIN, L WU, H YAO, W XIE, Z ZHU and J XU, 2017. Discovery of novel antitumor nitric oxide-donating β-elemene hybrids through inhibiting the PI3K/Akt pathway European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 135, 414-423
• XU S, YAO H, PEI L, HU M, LI DB, QIU Y, WANG, WU L, YAO H, ZHU Z, XU J, 2017. Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of NAD(P)H: Quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1)-targeted oridonin prodrugs possessing indolequinone moiety for hypoxia-selective activation European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 132, 310-321
• J CHEN, T WANG, S XU, A LIN, H YAO,, W XIE, Z ZHU, J XU, 2017. Novel hybrids of natural β-elemene bearing isopropanolamine moieties: Synthesis, enhanced anticancer profile, and improved aqueous solubility Fitoterapia. 120, 117-125
• S XU, H YAO, M HU, D LI, Z ZHU, W XIE, H YAO, L WU, ZS CHEN AND JXU, 2017. 6,7-Seco-ent-Kauranoids Derived from Oridonin as Potential Anticancer Agents Journal of Natural Products. 80(9), 2391-2398
• WENLONG LI, HONGHAO SUN, SHENGTAO XU, ZHEYING ZHU & JINYI XU, 2017. Tubulin inhibitors targeting the colchicine binding site: a perspective of privileged structures Future Medicinal Chemistry. 9(15), 1765-1794
• JIA WANG, CHAOLEI WANG, ZHENG WU, XINNAN LI, SHENGTAO XU, JIE LIU, QINYING LAN, ZHEYING ZHU, JINYI XU, 2017. Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and docking study of 4-isochromanone hybrids bearing N-benzyl pyridinium moiety as dual binding site acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (partⅡ) Chemical Biology & Drug Design.
• YAO H, LIU J, XU S, ZHU Z, XU J, 2016. The structural modification of natural products for novel drug discovery EXPERT OPINION ON DRUG DISCOVERY. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17460441.2016.1272757
• VAN EIJL S, ZHU Z, CUPITT J, GIERULA M, GOTZ C, FRITSCHE E, EDWARDS R J, 2012. Elucidation of Xenobiotic Metabolism Pathways in Human Skin and Human Skin Models by Proteomic Profiling PLoS One. 7(7): e41721
• ZHU Z, EDWARDS RJ, 2011. Application of proteomics to study mechanisms of toxicity and dose-response relationships of chemical exposure. In: Handbook of Systems Toxicology John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. p255-p264
• ZHU Z, EDWARDS R J, BOOBIS A R, 2009. Increased Expression of Histone Proteins during Estrogen-Mediated Cell Proliferation Environmental Health Perspectives. 117, 928-934
• ZHU Z, BOOBIS A R, EDWARDS R J, 2008. Identification of estrogen-responsive proteins in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells using label-free quantitative proteomics Proteomics. 8, 1987-2005
• ZHU Z, EDWARDS R J, BOOBIS A R, 2008. Proteomic analysis of human breast cell lines using SELDI-TOF MS shows that mixtures of estrogenic compounds exhibit simple similar action (concentration additivity) Toxicology Letters. 181, 93-103
• ZHU Z, HOCHKISS SA, BOOBIS AR, EDWARDS RJ, 2002. Expression of P450 enzymes in rat whole skin and cultured epidermal keratinocytes Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 297(1), 65-70