Research Experience

2015-now: Assistant Professor, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University
2015-now: Principal Investigator, PKU-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Synthetic and Functional Biomolecules Center, Peking University.
2013-2015: Postdoc Fellow, Harvard University
2007-2012: Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2003-2007: B.S. in Chemistry and in Physics (double major), Peking University

Research Interests

Our research focuses on inventing chemistry-enabled tools to study cellular structures, functions and signaling pathways, with a particular focus on neuroscience. We strive to understand how neuronal activities arise through the complex interplay between physical forces, chemical signals, and biological macromolecules. This mainly follows two lines of efforts: enzyme-based probes for profiling biomolecules in neurons, and optical reporters for neural activities. Our methods are drawing from a wide range of techniques, including protein engineering, molecular biology, chemical synthesis, fluorescence microscopy, computer programming and quantitative modeling. Research projects include:

1. Optical recording of action potential waveforms with genetically-encoded voltage indicators
2. Chemical labeling technique for mapping neuronal RNA localizations
3. Proximity tagging methods for profiling synaptic protein synthesis

Selected Publications

1. A. Wang#, J. Feng#, Y. Li*, and P. Zou*. Beyond fluorescent proteins: hybrid and bioluminescent indicators for imaging neural activities. ACS. Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 639-650.
2. Y. Xu#, L. Peng#, S. Wang#, A. Wang#, R. Ma, Y. Zhou, J. Yang, D. E. Sun, W. Lin, X. Chen, and P. Zou*. Hybrid indicators for fast and sensitive voltage imaging. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2018, 130, 4013-4017.
3. E. Kiskinis#, J. M. Kralj#, P. Zou#, E. N. Weinstein#, H. Zhang, K. Tisoras, O. Wiskow, J. A. Ortega, K. Eggan, and A. E. Cohen. All-optical electrophysiology for high-throughput functional characterization of a human iPSC-derived motor neuron model of ALS. Stem Cell Reports 2018, 10, 1-14.
4. L. Peng#, Y. Xu#, and P. Zou*. Genetically-encoded voltage indicators. Chin. Chem. Lett. 2017, 28, 1925-1928.
5. Y. Xu, P. Zou*, and A. E. Cohen*. Voltage imaging with genetically encoded indicators. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2017, 39, 1-10.
6. P. Zou#, Y. Zhao#, A. D. Douglass, D. R. Hochbaum, D. Brinks, C. A. Werley, D. J. Harrison, R. E. Campbell, and A. E. Cohen. Bright and fast multicoloured voltage reporters via electrochromic FRET. Nat. Commun. 2014, 5, 4625. (# equal contribution)
7. H. W. Rhee#, P. Zou#, N. D. Udeshi, J. D. Martell, V. K. Mootha, S. A. Carr, and A. Y. Ting. Proteomic mapping of mitochondria in living cells via spatially restricted enzymatic tagging. Science 2013, 339, 1328-1331.
8. P. Zou, and A. Y. Ting. Imaging LDL receptor oligomerization during endocytosis using a co-internalization assay. ACS Chem. Biol. 2011, 6, 308-313.