Biography
Feng earned a B.S. in Chemistry (1992), a M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry (1995) from Central China Normal University and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry (1998) from Nanjing University. Following his PhD degree he completed a 2-yr post-doc in Physical Chemistry at the Zhejiang University and a 3-yr post-doc in Biochemistry/Biophysics at the University of Arizona.
Personal Statement
Feng’s laboratory is known for its use of multidisciplinary approaches to study molecular mechanisms of metalloproteins in medicine and toxicology. Questions under investigation in his laboratory lie at the intersection of physics, chemistry and biology, with a particular emphasis on the molecular biophysics of oxidoreductase enzymes. Oxidoreductases are a large class of enzymes facilitating the transfer of electrons from an electron donor to an electron acceptor. Electron transfer within and between proteins is a fundamental biological process of great importance to living organisms. His lab focuses on the central question of how Nature has optimized protein dynamics to promote electron transfer. This question forms his life’s work and is a source of endless fascination for him. The Feng laboratory is active in innovative combination of cutting-edge approaches including laser flash photolysis, pulsed EPR, ultrafast 2D IR, genetic code expansion, and computational chemistry. The goal is to understand what the function of a biological relevant metal site is, how it goes about to achieve its function, and what factors dictate its function. Recent studies of the NOS proteins by Feng demonstrate that functional domain motions and interdomain docking play a central role in NOS isoform function by modulating key electron transfer processes. Molecular mechanisms of NOS regulation , once fully understood, are potentially key targets for development of direct, selective new pharmaceuticals for treating several diseases that currently lack effective treatments.
Areas of Specialty
Metalloproteins
Protein electron transfer
Conformational dynamics
Molecular Spectroscopy
Rapid kinetics
Electron paramagnetic Resonance
Education
PhD, Nanjing University, 1998 (Inorganic Chemistry)
MS, Central China Normal University, 1995 (Inorganic Chemistry)
BS, Central China Normal University, 1992 (Chemistry)
Achievements & Awards
P-1 Faculty Appreciation Award, UNM College of Pharmacy, 2020
Young Investigator Award, Gordon Research Conference on Nitric Oxide, 2007
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000
Asia-Pacific EPR Society Distinguished Service Award, 1997
Key Publications
Journal Article
Astashkin, A, V Elmore, B, O Fan, W, Guillemette, J, G Feng, Changjian, 2010 Pulsed EPR determination of the distance between heme iron and FMN centers in a human inducible nitric oxide synthase. Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 132, Issue 34, 12059-67
Journal Article
Astashkin, A, V Li , J, Zheng, H, Miao, Y, Feng, Changjian, 2018 A docked state conformational dynamics model to explain the ionic strength dependence of FMN - heme electron transfer in nitric oxide synthase. Journal of inorganic biochemistry, vol. 184
Journal Article
Feng, Changjian, Tollin, G, Hazzard, J, T Nahm, N, J Guillemette, J, G Salerno, J, C Ghosh, D, K 2007 Direct measurement by laser flash photolysis of intraprotein electron transfer in a rat neuronal nitric oxide synthase. Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 129, Issue 17, 5621-9
Journal Article
Astashkin, A, V Feng, Changjian, 2015 Solving Kinetic Equations for the Laser Flash Photolysis Experiment on Nitric Oxide Synthases: Effect of Conformational Dynamics on the Interdomain Electron Transfer. The journal of physical chemistry. A, vol. 119, Issue 45, 11066-75
Journal Article
Li , J, Zheng, H, Feng, Changjian, 2019 Effect of Macromolecular Crowding on the FMN-Heme Intraprotein Electron Transfer in Inducible NO Synthase. Biochemistry, vol. 58, Issue 28, 3087-3096
Languages
- Chinese
- English
Courses Taught
PHRM 576 Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology
PHRM 811 Introduction to Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry
PHRM 801 Applied Biochemistry
PHRM 820 Integrated Pharmacotherapeutics I
PHRM 825 Integrated Pharmacotherapeutics II
Research and Scholarship
Zheng, Huayu; Li, Jinghui; Feng, Changjian*. (2020) Heat shock protein 90 enhances the electron transfer between the FMN and heme cofactors in neuronal nitric oxide synthase. FEBS Lett. 594, 2904-2913.
Li, Jinghui; Zheng, Huayu; Feng, Changjian*. (2019) Effect of macromolecular crowding on the FMN-heme intraprotein electron transfer in inducible NO synthase. Biochemistry, 58, 3087-3096.
Astashkin, Andrei V.; Elmore, Bradley O.; Fan, Weihong; Guillemette, J. Guy.; Feng, Changjian*. (2010) Pulsed EPR determination of the distance between heme iron and FMN centers in a human inducible nitric oxide synthase, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 12059-12067.
Sempombe, Joseph; Elmore, Bradley; Sun, Xi; Dupont, Andrea; Ghosh, Dipak; Guillemette, Joseph; Kirk, Martin; Feng, Changjian*. (2009) Mutations in the FMN domain modulate MCD spectra of the heme site in the oxygenase domain of inducible nitric oxide synthase, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 6940-6941.
Feng, Changjian*; Tollin, Gordon; Hazzard, James T.; Nahm, Nickolas J.; Guillemette J. Guy; Salerno, John C.; Ghosh, Dipak K. (2007) Direct measurement by laser flash photolysis of intraprotein electron transfer in a rat neuronal nitric oxide synthase, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 129, 5621-5629.