Biography

• Associate Professor (with tenure), College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University (2021-now)

• Assistant Professor (tenure-track), College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University (2015-2021)

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University (2013-2015)

• Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2013)

• B.S. in Chemistry and in Physics, Peking University (2007)

Research Interests

We aim to invent chemical and biophysical tools to map neuronal activities at high spatiotemporal resolution. We apply these tools to investigate the underlying biological macromolecules, physical forces, and chemical signaling that give rise to neuronal functions. Examples are engineered enzymes, fluorescent indicators, custom-built microscopes and software, etc.

Our methods are drawing from a wide range of techniques, including protein engineering, chemical synthesis, molecular and cellular biology, fluorescence microscopy, high-throughput sequencing, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and quantitative modeling.

Current research projects include:

• Free radical-based chemical probes for profiling proteins and RNAs in neurons

• Genetically encoded optical reporters for neural activities

• Directed evolution of enzyme tools

Teaching

• Chemical Biology Laboratory

• Fundamentals of Biochemistry

• Academic Integrity and Scientific Writing

Awards

• Life Chemistry Young Investigator Award, Chinese Chemistry Society (2023)

• Bayer Investigator Award, Peking University (2020)

• Teaching Excellence Award, Peking University (2020)

• OKeanos-CAPA Young Investigator Award at the Chemical and Biology interface (2020)

• C&EN’s Talented 12 Award, American Chemical Society (2020)

• CSHA Fellowship, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Asia (2011)

• Lewis Paul Chapin Fellowship, MIT (2008)

• Department of Chemistry Outstanding Teaching Award, MIT (2008)

Selected Publications

1. Zhang, W., Fu, Y., Peng, L., Ogawa, Y., Ding, X., Rasband, A., Zhou, X., Shelly, M., Rasband M. N.* and Zou, P.* (2023). Immunoproximity biotinylation reveals the axon initial segment proteome. Nat. Commun.14, 8201.

2. Han, Y.#, Yang, J.#,*, Li, Y.#, Chen, Y.#, Ren, H., Ding, R., Qian, W., Ren, K., Xie, B., Deng, M., Xiao, Y., Chu, J. and Zou, P.* (2023). Bright and sensitive red voltage indicators for imaging action potentials in brain slices and pancreatic islets. Sci. Adv.9, eadi4208.

3. Ren, Z.#, Tang, W.#, Peng, L. and Zou, P.* (2023). Profiling stress-triggered RNA condensation with photocatalytic proximity labeling. Nat. Commun.14, 7390.

4. Yuan, F.#, Li, Y.#, Zhou, X. and Zou, P.* (2023). Spatially resolved mapping of proteome turnover dynamics with subcellular precision. Nat. Commun.14, 7217.

5. Zheng, F., Yu, C., Zhou, X. and Zou, P.* (2023). Genetically encoded photocatalytic protein labeling enables spatially-resolved profiling of intracellular proteome. Nat. Commun.14, 2978.

6. Liu, S.#, Lin, C.#, Xu, Y.#, Luo, H., Peng, L., Zeng, X., Zheng, H., Chen, P. R.* and Zou, P.* (2021). A far-red hybrid voltage indicator enabled by bioorthogonal engineering of rhodopsin on live neurons. Nat. Chem. 13, 472-479.

7. Zhou, Y. and Zou, P.* (2021). The evolving capabilities of enzyme-mediated proximity labeling. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol.60, 30-38.

8. Ding, T.#, Zhu, L.#, Fang, Y., Liu, Y., Tang, W. and Zou, P.* (2020). Chromophore-assisted proximity labeling of DNA reveals chromosomal organization in living cells. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl.59, 22933-22937.

9. Wang, P.#, Tang, W.#, Li, Z.#, Zou, Z., Zhou, Y., Li, R., Xiong, T., Wang, J.* and Zou, P.* (2019). Mapping spatial transcriptome with light-activated proximity-dependent RNA labeling. Nat. Chem. Biol.15, 1110-1119.

10. Zhou, Y.#, Wang, G.#, Wang, P., Li, Z., Yue, T., Wang, J. and Zou, P.* (2019). Expanding APEX2 substrates for proximity-dependent labeling of nucleic acids and proteins in living cells. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl.58, 11763-11767.