Department Meeting - From proof-of-concept research to commercialization a drug candidate

Serminar: Deciphering the Secretory Pathway: Molecular Mechanisms, Physiological Relevance, and Therapeutic Opportunities

3:30pm - 4:30pm

Lecture Theatre 2, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Road

Speaker: Dr. Yusong Guo

Associate Professor

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Dr. Yusong Guo earned his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Carnegie Mellon University and conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of 2013 Nobel laureate Dr. Randy Schekman at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2015, he launched his independent research group in the Division of Life Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST),

where he was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2021.

His laboratory studies cargo sorting within the secretory pathway and its significance in physiology and disease. Recent work from his group has elucidated molecular mechanisms controlling the surface delivery of transmembrane signaling receptors and the secretion of soluble signaling molecules. The lab has also pioneered a vesicle reconstitution system coupled with vesicle proteomic analysis to identify new regulators of vesicular

trafficking. Dr. Guo’s contributions have been recognized with awards including the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Early Career Award and the HKUST School of Science Teaching Award. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for Molecular Biology of the Cell and as a Standing Committee Member of the Membrane Biophysics Subcommittee of the Biophysical Society of China.

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[Invited] Human B Cell Receptor-Epitope Selection for Pan-Sarbecovirus Neutralization

4:00 - 5:30pm

Leung Yat Sing Lecture Theater (LT-F), Academic Building, HKUST

Speaker: Prof. Zhiwei Chen,

Professor

Chair Professor for Immunology and Immunotherapy

AIDS Institute and Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical medicine, Li Ka Sing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract:

The induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) against viruses requires the specific activation of human B cell receptors (BCRs) by viral epitopes. Following BCR activation, B cells can undergo germinal center–dependent and –independent pathways to generate both long-term and short-term epitope-specific memory responses. However, the regulation of B cell fate after BCR activation remains incompletely understood. Here, the speaker will report that a human isoform of PD-1, namely Δ42PD-1, plays a critical role in regulating B cell fate following BCR activation. While HIV-1 promotes B cell apoptosis via the epitope–BCR–Δ42PD-1 axis during chronic infection, SARS-CoV-2 does not appear to activate this pathway after breakthrough infections. This allows for more robust induction of bnAbs by engaging multiple highly conserved conformational “Jing” epitopes, as revealed by CryoEM analysis.

“Jing” follows the Chinese philosophy: “unchanging principles are the best response to change”. Consequently, bnAbs are induced not only against a broad range of evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants but also against pan-sarbecoviruses, including SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as related pangolin-CoV and bat-CoV strains. These findings have important implications for understanding human B cell immunity and for the design of novel vaccines against pan-sarbecoviruses.

Serminar: Deciphering and forecasting viral evolution via AI-augmented molecular evolution

4:30pm - 5:30pm

L9-53, Conference Room, 9/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road

Sperkar: Prof. Jian Lu

Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor

School of Life Sciences

Peking University

Dr. Jian Lu is a tenured Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Peking University and a Changjiang Scholar professor. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Genetics from Peking University and completed his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago, followed by postdoctoral training at Cornell University. Dr. Lu leads a research program centered on RNA regulation, molecular evolution, and computational design, integrating Drosophila genetics, evolutionary genomics, viral evolution and machine learning. His work has advanced understanding of RNA editing, mRNA translation control, viral evolution, and non-coding regulatory elements. He has published widely in journals such as Nature Communications, NSR, and iScience, and his research has been cited over 8,000 times. Dr. Lu serves as an Associate Editor for Molecular Biology and Evolution and hLife.