题 目：Novel Protein Functions from De Novo Protein Design and Expanded Chemical Functionalities

主 讲：陈昱达 博士（加州大学旧金山分校）

主 持：吴先登 副教授

时 间：2026年09月23日（周三）14:00-11:30

地 点：学习书坊

报告摘要：

Proteins achieve remarkable structural and functional diversity using arrangements of only 20 canonical amino acids, yet this creates two fundamental challenges: navigating the vast sequence space and overcoming the limited chemical diversity of the natural amino-acid alphabet. In this talk, I will present two complementary strategies to address these challenges. First, I will discuss my Ph.D. work on expanding protein chemical space through the biosynthesis and genetic incorporation of noncanonical amino acids. Second, I will present my postdoctoral work on navigating protein sequence space through de novo protein design, integrating AI-based methods with physical and chemical principles. These efforts have enabled the design of highly efficient enzymes and next-generation fluorescence imaging tools, including a record-breaking Kemp eliminase with a catalytic efficiency of 3.2 × 10⁶ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and pan-rhodamine binders that enable applications ranging from super-resolution microscopy to live-cell imaging at 75 °C. 

个人简介：

Dr. Chen Yuda will soon join the Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, as an independent PI/Assistant Professor. He earned his B.S.  in Science from School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, and his M.S. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan. In 2022, he received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Rice University under Prof. Han Xiao, where he worked on noncononical amino acid biosynthesis and genetic encoding methodologies. He then pursued postdoctoral research with Prof. William DeGrado at UCSF, focusing on AI-based functional protein design, including fluorescent protein tags and enzyme design. He has published papers as first or co-first author in journals such as Cell , Nature Chemistry, Chem, and Nature Communications.