Education
1980-1984 Gansu Agricultural University, B.S.
1984-1987 National Standard Institute for Veterinary Bio-Products, M.S.
1993-1997 University of Texas Health Science Center, Ph.D.
1998-2000 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Postdoctoral Fellow
Positions and Employment
1987-1991 Instructor, Beijing Agricultural University, Beijing, China
2000-2005 Assistant Professor, Albany Medical College, NY, USA
2005-2010 Associate Professor, Albany Medical College, NY, USA
2010- Director, Center for Infection Biology, Tsinghua University School of Medicine
2010-2016 Assistant Dean, Tsinghua University School of Medicine
2017-2020 Associate Dean, Tsinghua University School of Medicine
2017-2023 Director, the Tsinghua University-Boehringer Ingelheim Joint Research Center for Immuno-infection
Professional Memberships and Other Experience
1993- Member of the American Society for Microbiology
1993-2000 Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
2009-2010 President-Elect, East New York Branch, American Society for Microbiology
2005-2009 Alternative Councilor, East New York Branch, American Society for Microbiology
2009 Founding member, Society for Overseas Chinese Microbiologists (Sino-Micro)
2010 Organizer, the first Sino-Micro symposium, Beijing, China
2012-2014 Standing member, Microbiology Study Section, Division of Life Science, National Natural Science Foundation of China
2017- Founding member, Asian Society of Pneumococcus
2019 Organizer, the second symposium for the Asian Society of Pneumococcus, Beijing, China
2008-2017 Editorial Board member, Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2010- Associate Editor, Frontiers in Infection Microbiology
2014-2020 Section Editor, Emerging Microbes and Infections
2016-2018 Editor, Microbial Genomics
2019-2024 Co-editor, Molecular Medical Microbiology, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
2025-2030 Editor, Infection and Immunity
Honors
The Raymond W. Sarber Award, American Society for Microbiology, 1997
The Presidential Fellowship Award, the University of Texas-Houston, 1997
The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award in Category II, 2007
The Outstanding Young Scholar (type B), National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2007
The Most Cited Chinese Scholar in microbiology and immunology, Elsevier Ltd., 2018
The Most Cited Chinese Scholar in microbiology and immunology, Elsevier Ltd., 2019
The Most Cited Chinese Scholar in microbiology and immunology, Elsevier Ltd., 2020
国务院政府特殊津贴人才，2024
Research Areas and accomplishments:
1) The discovery of the liver as the major battle ground between bacterial capsules and liver macrophages. Capsules are known for promoting bacterial survival and virulence for over a century, but the precise mechanism of the capsule function has remained undefined. It is widely believed that the major role of the capsules is to protect bacteria from phagocytic killing of circulating phagocytes. In the works recently published in Journal of Experimental Medicine (2022, 2025), PLoS Pathogens (2022) and Science Advances (2025), Dr. Zhang’s laboratory has discovered the liver macrophage Kupffer cell (KC) as the major target immune cell for capsule-mediated immune evasion. While acapsular bacteria are quickly captured by KC in the liver sinusoids once entering the bloodstream, encapsulated bacteria escape KC’s capture to various extents in mouse sepsis models, depending on the structures or serotypes of capsular polysaccharides. The high-virulence (HV) types are completely “untouchable” by KC, leading to bacterial growth in the blood and severe disease consequences. To a less extent, the low-virulence (LV) serotypes are captured by KC with relatively lower efficiencies, as compared with acapsular strains; KC’s capture of the LV bacteria depends on capsule type-specific receptors. These findings represent a major breakthrough in understanding the biology of sepsis and other invasive bacterial diseases.
2) The discovery of the liver-based vaccine protection mechanisms. Capsular polysaccharide vaccines have significantly reduced the disease burden caused by several invasive bacteria, but the precise mechanisms of vaccine immunity are largely unknown. The current paradigm on vaccine immunity against blood bacterial infections states that vaccine-elicited antibodies activate the circulating phagocytosis. In the recently published studies in Science Translational Medicine (2023) and Vaccine (2024), Dr. Zhang’s team has shown the liver as the major organ to execute vaccine-activated capture and killing of blood-borne pathogens. Liver Kupffer cell (KC) and sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) are found to fulfill the adaptive immunity in the liver sinusoids. The liver-based vaccine protection mechanisms have not only explained how the vaccine immunity operates, but also provided a foundation for a new vaccine evaluation system to aid future development of vaccines against the “super-bug” bacteria with the extreme antimicrobial resistance.
3) The discovery of the epigenetic mechanism for pneumococcal phase variation. The reversible phase variation in colony morphology was first described by Dr. Jeffrey Weiser as a reversible phenotypic switch between the opaque (low carriage, high virulence) and transparent (high carriage, low virulence) colonies, but the mechanism remained unknown for many years. Dr. Zhang’s group has recently discovered the molecular mechanism that defines reversible the phase variation. The switches between the opaque and transparent states are caused by reversible alteration in genome DNA methylation patterns and resulting epigenetic and phenotypic impacts (PLoS Pathogens 2016、2020、2024; Journal of Bacteriology 2019). Subsequent investigations have revealed the similar DNA inversion systems in many host-associated bacteria, which Dr. Zhang refers to as epigenetic invertons (Nucleic Acids Research 2020). This finding was highlighted as the highly important discovery in bacterial genetics/pathogenesis by the Nature Reviews Microbiology soon after its publication Based on the profound impact of the epigenetic inverton on pneumococcal physiology and pathogenesis, this type of epigenetic regulation systems may fulfill broad and important functions in bacterial adaptation to various environmental conditions.
Selected Publications:
1. An, Haoran*, Huang Yijia , Zhifeng Zhao, Kunpeng Li, Xueting Huang, Xianbin Tian, Jingjing Meng, Hongyu Zhou, Jiamin Wu, Qionghai Dai*, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2025. Splenic red pulp macrophages eliminate the liver-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae from the blood circulation of mice. Science Advances, 11:eadq6399. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adq6399.
2. Tian, Xianbin, Yanni Liu, Kun Zhu, Haoran An, Jie Feng, Linqi Zhang, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2025. Natural antibodies to polysaccharide capsules enable Kupffer cells to capture invading bacteria in the liver sinusoids. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 222:e20240735, https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20240735.
3. Zhang, Fan, Haoze Chen, Bo Zheng, Liang Huang, Ye Xiang, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Jiafeng Liu*. 2025. Heat stress induced bacterial tolerance against phage facilitates the evolution of Resistance. eLife, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.105703.1.
4. Chen, Hongyan, Jing-Ren Zhang*, Zongmin Du*, and Ruifu Yang*. Implications of the gppA Frameshift for Bacterial Survival in Human Macrophage. Emerging Microbes and Infections, in press.
5. Li, Yuelong, Xueting Huang, Qian Jin, Jianlong Wang, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Haifa Zheng*. 2025. Critical quality attributes and manufacturing techniques for Streptococcus2 pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide in pneumococcal vaccines: A review. Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 9(2025):100733, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carpta.2025.100733.
6. Wang, Shaomeng, Shaomeng Wang, Xiu-Yuan Li, Mengran Zhu, Haiteng Deng, Juanjuan Wang*, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2024. The SpxA1-TenA toxin-antitoxin system regulates epigenetic variations of Streptococcus pneumoniae by targeting protein synthesis. PLOS Pathogens, 20(12): e101280, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012801.
7. Wang, Lijun, Qian Jin，Yanni Liu, Xueting Huang, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Hui Wu*. 2024. A novel esterase regulates Klebsiella pneumoniae hypermucoviscosity and virulence. PLOS Pathogens, 20(10): e1012675, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012675.
8. Tian, Xianbin, Juanjuan Wang*, Haoze Chen, Ming Ding, Qian Jin, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2024. In vivo functional immunoprotection correlates for vaccines against invasive bacteria. Vaccine, 42: 853-863. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.01.018.
9. Chen, Danyu, Jiao Hu, Mengran Zhu, Yufeng Xie, Hantian Yao, Haoran An, Yumin Meng, Juanjuan Wang, Xueting Huang, Zhujun Shao, Ye Xiang, Jianxun Qi, George Fu Gao, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2024. C-reactive protein drives potent clearance of blood bacteria in the liver by activating the complement system. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.05.616753.
10. Fang, Yujie, Wenxia Ma, Chenyun Qian, Jiao Hu, Xianbin Tian, Xueting Huang, Wenlong Lai, Li Wu, Haoran An, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2024. Influenza virus enhances bacterial growth in the lungs through weakening capsule receptor-mediated bacterial capture by neutrophils. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.08.622589.
11. Li, Yuelong, Hantian Yao, Yanli Liu, Xueting Huang, Xin Cao, Jianlong Wang, Zhixin Gao, Haifa Zheng, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Jiankai Liu*. 2024. Simplified process for preparing native and depolymerized capsular polysaccharides of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Carbohydrate Polymers, 351: 123070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.123070.
12. Li, Yuelong, Xin Cao, Xueting Huang, Yanli Liu, Jianlong Wang, Qian Jin, Jiankai Liu, Jing-Ren Zhang*, Haifa Zheng*. 2024. Novel manufacturing process of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides using advanced sterilization methods. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 12:1451881. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2024.1451881.
13. Sun, Wenbo, Tingyu Yang , Fengming Sun, Panhong Liu, Ji Gao, Xianmei Lan, Wei Xu, Yuhong Pang, Tong Li, Cuifeng Li, Qingtai Liang, Haoze Chen, Xiaohang Liu, Wenting Tan, Huanhuan Zhu, Fang Wang, Fanjun Cheng, Wei Wei Zhai, Han-Na Kim, Jing-Ren Zhang, Linqi Zhang, Lu Lu, Qiaoran Xi, Guohong Deng, Yanyi Huang, Xin Jin, Xiangjun Chen, and Wanli Liu*. 2024. An IGHG1 variant exhibits polarized prevalence and confers enhanced IgG1 antibody responses against life-threatening organisms. Nature Immunology, 25:1809-1819. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-024-01944-4.
14. Suo, Zhaotaize, Ying Yu, Fangyun Shi, Jijing Tian, Zhihui Hao*, Jing-Ren Zhang and Jun Zou. Effects of oral liquiritigenin inoculation on gut microbiota and gene expression in intestinal and extraintestinal tissues of mice. Frontiers in Microbiomes, 3:1380152. https://doi.org/10.3389/frmbi.2024.1380152.
15. Li, Cuifeng, Meng Zhao , Xiaohang Liu , Bihua Xu , Lina Zhou , Xiaolin Sun , Yuxin Li , Wenbo Sun , Na Kang , Zhenglin Ji , Tong Li , Haoran An , Fei Wang , Chuan Wu , Jing-Ren Zhang , Qingwen Wang , Xiaodong Zhao , Zhanguo Li and Wanli Liu. 2024. Ion channel TRPV2 is critical in enhancing B cell activation and function. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 221: e20221042. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20221042.
16. Zhang, Yaxuan, Hui Qiu, Fuyu Duan, Haoran An, Huimin Qiao, Xingwu Zhang, Jing-Ren Zhang, Qiang Ding, Jie Na*. 2024. A comparative study of human pluripotent stem cell-derived macrophages in modeling viral infections. Viruses 16:552. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16040552.
17. Wang, Juanjuan, Haoran An, Ming Ding, Yanhong Liu, Shaomeng Wang, Qian Jin, Qi Wu, Haodi Dong, Qile Guo, Xianbin Tian, Jiankai Liu, Jingfei Zhang, Tao Zhu, Junqiang Li, Zhujun Shao, David E. Briles, Jan-Willem Veening, Haifa Zheng*, Linqi Zhang*, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2023. Liver macrophages and sinusoidal endothelial cells execute vaccine-elicited capture of invasive bacteria. Science Translational Medicine 15:eade0054. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.ade0054.
18. Wang, Lijun, Xueting Huang, Qian Jin, Tang jie, Zhang Hua, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Hui Wu*. 2023.Two-component response regulator OmpR regulates mucoviscosity through energy metabolism in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Microbiology Spectrum 11(3):e0054423. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00544-23.
19. Zhang, Chengwang, Yanhong Liu, Haoran An, Xueying Wang, Lina Xu, Haiteng Deng, Songquan Wu, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Xiaohui Liu*. 2023. Amino acid starvation-induced glutamine accumulation enhances pneumococcal survival. mSphere 8(3):e00625-22. https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00625-22.
20. An, Haoran, Xianbin Tian, Yijia Huang, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2023. Identification of the mouse Kupffer cell receptors recognizing pneumococcal capsules by affinity screening. Star Protocols 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102065.
21. Zhang, Howard, Ziyuan Zhang, Bert L. Shan, Xianbin Tian, Qing Meng, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2023. Varying levels of disinfectant resistance among invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Journal of Emerging Investigators 6:1-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59720/22-251.
22. Zeng, Yuan, Yuqin Song, Langing Cui, Qi Wu, Chao Wang, Adriano Cappellazzo Coelho, Gang Zhang, Dawei Wei, Chao Li, Jing-Ren Zhang, Jacques Corbeil, Yun Li*, and Jie Feng*. 2023. Phylogenomic insights into evolutionary trajectories of multidrug resistant S. pneumoniae CC271 over a period of 14 years in China. Genome Medicine 15:46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13073-023-01200-8.
23. Liu, Congcong, Ning Dong, Xueting Huang, Zixian Huang, Chang Cai, Jiayue Lu, Hongwei Zhou, Jing-Ren Zhang, Yu Zeng, Fan Yang, Gongxiang Chen, Zhangqi Shen*, Rong Zhang*, and Sheng Chen*. 2023. Emergence of the clinical rdar morphotype carbapenem-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae with enhanced adaption to hospital environment. Science of the Total Environment 889(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164302.
24. An, Haoran, Chenyun Qian, Yijia Huang, Jing Li, Xianbin Tian, Jiaying Feng, Jiao Hu, Yujie Fang, Fangfang Jiao, Yuna Zeng, Xueting Huang, Xianbin Meng, Xue Liu, Xin Lin, Zhutian Zeng, Martin Guilliams, Alain Beschin, Yongwen Chen, Yuzhang Wu, Jing Wang, Marco R. Oggioni, John M. Leong, Jan-Willem Veening, Haiteng Deng, Rong Zhang, Hui Wang, Jiang Wu, Yan Cui, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2022. Functional vulnerability of liver macrophages to capsules defines virulence of blood-borne bacteria. Journal of Experimental Medicine 219:e20212032. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20212032.
25. Huang, Xueting, Xiuyuan Li, Haoran, Juanjuan Wang, Ming Ding, Lijun Wang, Lulu Li, Quanjiang Ji, Fen Qu, Hui Wang, Yingchun Xu, Xinxin Lu, Yuan He, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2022. Capsule type defines the capacity of Klebsiella pneumoniae in evading Kupffer cell capture in the liver. PLOS Pathogens 18:e1010693. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010693.
26. Zhou, Menglan, Ziran Wang, Li Zhang, Timothy Kudinha, Haoran An, Chenyun Qian, Jiang Bin, Yao Wang, Ying-Chun Xu, Zhengyin Liu*, Hong Zhang*, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2022. Serotype distribution, antimicrobial susceptibility, multilocus sequencing type and virulence of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae in China: a six-year multi-center study. Frontiers in Microbiology 12:798750. DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2021.798750.
27. Guo, Ziyi, Haoqi Yang, Jing-Ren Zhang, Wenwen Zeng*, and Xiaoyu Hu*. 2022. Leptin receptor signaling sustains metabolic fitness of alveolar macrophages to attenuate pulmonary inflammation. Science Advances. 8:eabo3064. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abo3064.
28. Hu, Qingqing, Huichun Tong, Jing Wang, Pupu Ge, Lin Zhu, Cuihua Liu, Jing-Ren Zhang, Xiuzhu Dong. 2021. A novel aquaporin subfamily imports oxygen and contributes to pneumococcal virulence by controlling production and release of virulence factors. mBio 12:e01309-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01309-21.
29. Zhang, Chengwang, Haoran An, Jiao Hu, Jing Li, Wenhao Zhang, Xun Lan, Haiteng Deng, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2021. MetR is a molecular adaptor for pneumococcal carriage in the healthy upper airway. Molecular Microbiology 116:438-458. DOI:10.1111/MMI.14724.
30. Huang, Xueting, Juanjuan Wang, Jing Li, Yanni Liu, Xue Liu, Zeyao Li, Kurni Kurniyati, Yijie Deng, Guilin Wang, Joseph D. Ralph, Megan De Ste Croix, Sara Escobar-Gonzalez, Richard J. Roberts, Jan-Willem Veening, Xun Lan, Marco R. Oggioni*, Chunhao Li*, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2020. Prevalence of phase variable epigenetic invertons among host-associated bacteria. Nucleic Acids Research 48:11468-11485. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa907.
31. Wang, Juanjuan, Jing-Wen Li, Yijia Huang, Shaolin Wang, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2020. Regulation of pneumococcal epigenetic and colony phases by multiple two-component regulatory systems. PLOS Pathogens 16 (3):e1008417. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008417.
32. Li, Jing.-Wen, Juanjuan Wang, Sofia Ruiz-Cruz, Manuel Espinosa, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Alicia Bravo*. 2020. In vitro DNA inversions mediated by the PsrA site-specific tyrosine recombinase of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 7:43. DOI:10.3389/fmolb.2020.00043.
33. Li, Jing-Wen, Jing Li, Juanjuan Wang, Chunhao Li, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2019. Molecular mechanisms of hsdS inversions in the cod locus of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Journal of Bacteriology 201(6):e00581-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00581-18. Chosen by the editor as the Article of Significant Interest in This Issue, DOI:10.1128/JB.00023-19.
34. Liu, Yanni, Yuna Zeng, Yijia Huang, Gu L, Shaolin Wang, Chunhao Li, Donald A. Morrison, Haiteng Deng*, Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2019. HtrA‐mediated selective degradation of DNA uptake apparatus accelerates termination of pneumococcal transformation. Molecular Microbiology 112：1308-1325. DOI:10.1111/mmi.14364.
35. Li, Jing and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2019. Phase variation of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Microbiology Spectrum 7(1). DOI:10.1128/microbiolspec.GPP3-0005-2018.
36. Zong, Yu, Fang Fang, Kirsten J. Meyer, Liguo Wang, Zhihao Ni, Hongying Gao. Kim Lewis, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Yu Rao. 2019. Gram-scale total synthesis of teixobactin promoting binding mode study and discovery of more potent antibiotics. Nature Communications 10:3268. DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-11211-y.
37. Zhang, Kai, Zhuan Qin, Yunjie Chang, Jun Liu, Michael G. Malkowski, Saimtun Shipa, Li Li, Weigang Qiu, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Chunhao Li*. 2019. Analysis of a flagellar filament cap mutant reveals that HtrA serine protease degrades unfolded flagellin protein in the periplasm of Borrelia burgdorferi. Molecular Microbiology 111:1652-1670. DOI:10.1111/mmi.14243.
38. Wang, Xu, Yuna Zeng, Li Sheng, Peter Larson, Xue Liu, Xiaowen Zou, Shufang Wang, Kaijing Guo, Chen Ma, Gang Zhang, Huaqing Cui, David Ferguson, Yan Li, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Courtney Aldrich*. 2019. A cinchona alkaloid antibiotic that appears to target ATP synthase in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 62:2305-2332. DOI:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01353.
39. Wang, Yang, Zhensong Wen, Xiaolei Pan, David E. Briles, Yongqun He, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2018. Novel immunoprotective proteins of Streptococcus pneumoniae identified by opsonophagocytosis killing screen. Infection and Immunity 86(9):e00423-18. DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00423-18.
40. He, Lihong, Dongyang Luo, Fan Yang, Chunhao Li, Xuegong Zhang, Haiteng Deng, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2018. Multiple domains of bacterial and human Lon proteases define substrate selectivity. Emerging Microbes and Infections:149. DOI:10.1038/s41426-018-0148-4.
41. Kurniyati, Kurni, Jun Liu, Jing-Ren Zhang, Yunjiang Min, and Chunhao Li*. 2018. A pleiotropic role of FlaG homolog in regulating the cell morphogenesis and flagellar homeostasis at the cell poles of Treponema denticola. Cellular Microbiology 21:e12886. DOI:10.1111/cmi.12886.
42. Pan, Yushan *, Haoran An, Tong Fu, Shiyu Zhao, Chengwang Zhang, Genhui Xiao, Jing-Ren Zhang, Xinfang Zhao, Gongzheng Hu*. 2018. Characterization of Streptococcus pluranimalium from a cattle with mastitis by whole genome sequencing and functional validation. BMC Microbiology 18:182. DOI:10.1186/s12866-018-1327-0
43. Xu, Miao, Huiping Lu, Young-Hee Lee, Y. Wu, Kewei Liu, Yuling Shi, Haoran An, Jing-Ren Zhang, Xiaohu Wang, Yuping Lai, and Chen Dong*. 2018. An Interleukin-25-mediated autoregulatory circuit in keratinocytes plays a pivotal role in psoriatic skin inflammation. Immunity 48:787-798 e4. DOI:10.1016/j.immuni.2018.03.019.
44. Liu, Xue, Jing-Wen Li, Zhixin Feng, Yongfu Luo, Jan-Willem Veening, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2017. Transcriptional repressor PvtR regulates phenotypic tolerance to vancomycin in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Journal of Bacteriology 199(14). pii:e00054-17. DOI:10.1128/JB.00054-17.
45. Li, Jing, Juanjuan Wang, Fangfang Jiao and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2017. Observation of pneumococcal phase variation in colony morphology. Bio-protocol 7:Iss15. DOI:10.21769/BioProtoc.2434.
46. Yu, Yuanyuan, Jing-Wen Li, Long Jiang, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Liansuo Zu*. 2017. Catalytic enantioselective aza-pinacol rearrangement. Angewandte Chemie International Edition English 56:9217-9221. DOI:10.1002/anie.201705539.
47. Chen, Fei, Guolin Cui, Shuxia Wang, Manoj K. Mohan Nair, Lihong He, Xinyi Qi, Xiangmin Han, Hanqi Zhang, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Jingliang Su*. 2017. Outer membrane vesicle-associated lipase FtlA enhances cellular invasion and virulence in Francisella tularensis LVS. Emerging Microbes and Infections 6:e66. DOI:10.1038/emi.2017.53.
48. Liu, Bo, Xue Liu, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Gang Liu*. 2017. A natural lipotrisaccharide and its derivatives selectively lyse Streptococcus pneumoniae via interaction with cell membrane. ACS Infectious Diseases 3:438-453. DOI:10.1021/acsinfecdis.7b00008.
49. Liu, Xue, Clement Gallay, Morten Kjos, Amau Domenech, Jelle Slager, Sebastiaan P. van Kessel, Kevin Knoops, Robin A. Sorg, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Jan-Willem Veening*. 2017. High-throughput CRISPRi phenotyping in Streptococcus pneumoniae identifies new essential genes involved in cell wall synthesis and competence development. Molecular Systems Biology 13:931. DOI:10.15252/msb.20167449.
50. Li, Jing Jing-Wen Li, Zhixin Feng, Juanjuan Wang, Haoran An, Yanni Liu, Yang Wang, Kailing Wang, Xuegong Zhang, Zhun Miao, Wenbo Liang, Robert Sebra, Guiling Wang, Wen-Ching Wang, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2016. Epigenetic switch driven by DNA inversions dictates phase variation in Streptococcus pneumoniae. PLOS Pathogens 12: e1005762. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005762. Highlighted in Nature Reviews Microbiology DOI:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.122.
51. Wen, Zhensong, Yanni Liu, Fen Qu, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2016. Allelic variation of the capsule promoter diversifies encapsulation and virulence in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Scientific Reports 6:30176. DOI: 10.1038/srep30176.
52. Li, Guilin, Zhuowen. Liang, Xiatai Wang, Yonghong Yang, Zhujun Shao, Ma Li, Yueyun Ma, Fen Qu, Donald A. Morrison, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2016. Addiction of hyper-transformable pneumococcal isolates to natural transformation for in vivo fitness and virulence. Infection and Immunity 84:1887-1901. DOI:10.1128/IAI.00097-16.
53. He, Lihong, Manoj K. Mohan Nair, Yuling Chen, Xue Liu, Mengyun Zhang, Karsten R. O. Hazlett, Haiteng Deng*, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2016. The protease locus of Francisella tularensis LVS is required for stress tolerance and infection of mammalian host. Infection and Immunity 84:1387-402. DOI:10.1128/IAI.00076-16.
54. Bai, Xiao-Hui, Qiong Li, Yong-Liang Jiang, Jing-Ren Zhang*, Yuxin Chen*, and Cong-Zhao Zhou*. 2016. Structural comparison and simulation of pneumococcal peptidoglycan hydrolase LytB. Methods in Molecular Biology 1440:271-83. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4939-3676-2_19.
55. Yang, Hongzhi, Xue Liu, Qingong Li, Longbo Li, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Yefeng Tang*. 2016. Total synthesis and preliminary SAR study of (+/-)-merochlorins A and B. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 14:198-205. DOI: 10.1039/c5ob01946j.
56. Yang, Tao, Gong Chen, Zitai Sang, Yuanyuan Liu, Xiaoyan Yang, Ying Chang, Haiyue Long, Wei Ang, Jianying Tang, Zhenling Wang*, Guobo Li, Shengyong Yang, Jing-Ren Zhang, Yuquan Wei, and Youfu Luo*. 2015. Discovery of a teraryl oxazolidinone compound (S)-N-((3-(3-fluoro-4-(4-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)phenyl)-2-oxooxazolidin-5 -yl)methyl)acetamide phosphate as a novel antimicrobial agent with enhanced safety profile and efficacies. Journal of Medical Chemistry 58:6389-409. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00152.
57. Wang, Lei, Yong-Liang Jiang, Jing-Ren Zhang, Cong-Zhao Zhou, and Yuxin Chen*. 2015. Structural and enzymatic characterization of the choline kinase LicA from Streptococcus pneumoniae. PLoS One 10:e0120467. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0120467.
58. Wen, Zhensong, Odeniel Sertil, Yongxin Chen, Shanshan Zhang, Xue Liu, Wen-Ching Wang, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2015. The sequence elements upstream of the core promoter are necessary for the full transcription of the capsule gene operon in Streptococcus pneumoniae strain D39. Infection and Immunity 83:1957-1972. DOI:10.1128/IAI.02944-14.
59. Achila, David, Aizhou Liu, Rahui Banerjee, Yue Li, Erik Martinez-Hackert, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Honggao Yan*. 2015. Structural determinants of host specificity of complement factor H recruitment by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Biochemical Journal 465:325-335. DOI:10.1042/BJ20141069.
60. Feng, Zhixin., Jing Li, Jing-Ren Zhang*, and Xuegong Zhang*. 2014. qDNAmod: a statistical model based tool to reveal intercellular heterogeneity of DNA modification from SMRT sequencing data. Nucleic Acids Research 42:13488-13499. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gku1097.
61. Zhu, Deyu, Lijun Wang, Guijun Shang, Xue Liu, Jing Zhu, Defen Lu, Lei Wang, Biao Kan, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Ye Xiang. 2014. Structural biochemistry of a Vibrio cholerae dinucleotide cyclase reveals cyclase activity regulation by folates. Molecular Cell 55:931-937. DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2014.08.001.
62. Zeng Xian-Fei, Yueyun Ma, Liu Yang, Lei Zhou, Yijun Xin, Liang Chang, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Xiaoke Hao*. 2014. A C-terminal truncated mutation of licC attenuates the virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Research in Microbiololgy 165: 630-638. DOI:10.1016/j.resmic.2014.09.002.
63. Song, Yongxiang, Qinglian Li, Xue Liu, Yuchan Chen, Yun Zhang, Aijun Sun, Weimin Zhang, Jing-Ren Zhang, and Jianhua Ju*. 2014. Cyclic hexapeptides from the deep South China Sea-derived Streptomyces scopuliridis SCSIO ZJ46 active against pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria. Journal of Natural Products 77:1937-1941. DOI:10.1021/np500399v.
64. Bai, Xiao-Hui, Hui-Jie Chen, Yong-Liang Jiang, Zhensong Wen, Yubin Huang, Wang Cheng, Qiong Li, Lei Qi, Jing-Ren Zhang*, Yuxin Chen*, and Cong-Zhao Zhou*. 2014. Structure of pneumococcal peptidoglycan hydrolase LytB reveals insights into the bacterial cell wall remodeling and pathogenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 289:23403–23416. DOI:10.1074/jbc.M114.579714.
65. Yang, Yi-Hu, Yong-Liang Jiang, Juan Zhang, Lei Wang, Xiao-Hui Bai, Shi-Jie Zhang, Yan-Min Ren, Na Li, Yonghui Zhang, Zhiyong Zhang, Qingguo Gong, Yide Mei, Ting Xue, Jing-Ren Zhang, Yuxin Chen*, and Cong-Zhao Zhou*. 2014. Structural insights into SraP-mediated Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to host cells. PLOS Pathogens 10:e1004169. DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004169.
66. Pan, Xiaolei, Yang Yang, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2014. Molecular basis of host specificity in human pathogenic bacteria. Emerging Microbes and Infections 3:e23. DOI:10.1038/emi.2014.23.
67. Gupta, R., Jun Yang, Y. Dong, E. Swiatlo, Jing-Ren Zhang, Dennis W. Metzger, and Guangchun Bai*. 2013. Deletion of arcD in Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 impairs its capsule and attenuates virulence. Infection and Immunity 81:3903-3911.
68. Qaidi, Samir E., Jun Yang, Jing-Ren Zhang, Dennis W. Metzger, and Guangchun Bai*. 2013. The vitamin B6 biosynthesis pathway in Streptococcus pneumoniae is controlled by pyridoxal 5’-phosphate and the transcription factor PdxR, and impacts on ear infection. Journal of Bacteriology 195:2187-2196.
69. Li, Guilin, Fen Z. Hu, Xianwei Yang, Yujun Cui, Jun Yang, Fen Qu, George F. Gao, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2012. The complete genome sequence of Streptococcus pneumoniae strain ST556, a multi-drug resistant isolate from an otitis media patient. Journal of Bacteriology 194:3294-3295.
70. Han, Huiming, Cuihua Liu, Quanhui Wang, Chunling Xuan, Beiwen Zheng, Jiaqi Tang, Jinghua Yan, Jing-Ren Zhang, Ming Li, Hao Cheng, Guangwen Lu, George F. Gao*. 2012. The two-component system Ihk/Irr contributes to the virulence of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 strain 05ZYH33 through alteration of the bacterial cell metabolism. Microbiology 158:1852-1866.
71. Su, J., J. Asare, J. Yang, M. Kumar, J. Mazurkiewicz, Y. Abu-Kwaik, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2011. The capBCA locus is required for intracellular growth of Francisella tularensis. Frontiers in Microbiology 2:83. DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2011.00083.
72. Zhang, Q., F. Gao, H. Peng, H. Cheng, Y. Liu, J. Tang, J. Thompson, G. Wei, Jing-Ren Zhang, Y. Du, J. Yan, and G.F. Gao*. 2009. Crystal structures of Streptococcus suis mannonate dehydratase (ManD) and its complex with substrate: genetic and biochemical evidence for a catalytic mechanism. Journal of Bacteriology 191:5832–5837.
73. Chen, Huaiqing, Yueyun Ma, Jun Yang, Christopher J. O'Brien, Scott L. Lee, Joseph E. Mazurkiewicz, Sauli Haataja, Jinghua Yan, George F. Gao, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2008. Genetic requirement for pneumococcal ear infection. PLoS One 3:e2950.
74. Lu, Ling, Zhuo Ma, T. Sakari Jokiranta, Adeline R. Whitney, Frank R. DeLeo, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2008. Species-specific interaction of Streptococcus pneumoniae with human complement factor H. Journal of Immunology 181:7138-7146.
75. Ma, Zhuo and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2007. RR06 activates the transcription of spr1996 and cbpA in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Journal of Bacteriology 189:2497-2509.
76. Su, Jingliang, Jun Yang, Daimin Zhao, Thomas H. Kawula, Jeffery. A. Banas, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2007. Genome-wide identification of Francisella tularensis virulence determinants. Infection and Immunity 75:3089-3101.
77. Lu, Ling, Yueyun Ma, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2006. Streptococcus pneumoniae recruits complement factor H through the amino terminus of CbpA. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278:48178-48187.
78. Lu, Ling, Michael E. Lamm, Hongmin Li, Blaise Corthesy, and Jing-Ren Zhang*. 2003. The human polymeric immunoglobulin receptor binds to Streptococcus pneumoniae via domains 3 and 4. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278:48178-48187.
79. Zhang, Jing-Ren, Keith E. Mostov, Michael E. Lamm, Masanobu Nanno, Shin-ichiro Shimida, Makoto Ohwaki, and Elaine Tuomanen*. 2000. The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor translocates pneumococci across human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. Cell 102:827-837.
80. Zhang, Jing-Ren, Ilona Idanpaan-Heikkila, Werner Fischer, and Elaine Tuomanen*. 1999. Pneumococcal licD2 gene is involved in phosphorylcholine metabolism. Molecular Microbiology 31:1477-1488.
81. Zhang, Jing-Ren and Elaine Tuomanen*. 1999. Molecular and cellular mechanisms for microbial entry into the CNS. Journal of NeuroVirology 5:591-603.
82. Zhang, Jing-Ren and Steven J. Norris*. 1998. Kinetics and in vivo induction of genetic variation of vlsE in Borrelia burgdorferi. Infection and Immunity 66:3689-3697.
83. Zhang, Jing-Ren and Steven J. Norris*. 1998. Genetic variation of the Borrelia burgdorferi gene vlsE involves cassette-specific, segmental gene conversion. Infection and Immunity 66:3698-3704.
84. Zhang, Jing-Ren, John. M. Hardham, Alan. G. Barbour, and Steven J. Norris*. 1997. Antigenic variation in Lyme disease Borrelia by promiscuous recombination of vmp-like sequence cassettes. Cell 89:275-285.
Dabbert, C. Brad, Robert L. Lockmiller*, Jing-Ren Zhang, Charles W. Qualls, and Kim Burnham. 1994. High in vitro endotoxin responsiveness of macrophage from an endotoxin-resistant wild rodent species, Sigmodon hispidus. Developmental and Comparative Immunology 18:147-153.
