1B-106, 1/F, Block 1, To Yuen Building
+852 3442-5693
+852 3442-0549
xindeng@cityu.edu.hk
CityU Scholars
Lab Website
Virulence regulation in pathogenic bacteria • Antibiotic resistance • Host-pathogens interactions • RNA epigenetics

Dr Deng received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Microbiology from China Agricultural University. He completed his PhD in Genetics at the Kansas State University, and his postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. Dr Deng worked at Nankai University before joining City University of Hong Kong. He is interested in bacterial virulence, including gene regulation, signalling pathways, and RNA epigenetics. His research lies on the interface of multi-disciplinary approaches with the ultimate goal of developing novel therapies to combat bacterial infection. More information can be found at the group website.
Research InterestsThe emergence and spread of various multidrug-resistant bacterial strains have posed alarming challenges to public health and agriculture worldwide. Public demand for new antibiotics is enormous, yet drug development pipelines of the pharmaceutical industry started to run dry with limited targets available for inventing new bactericidal antibiotics. It is important to uncover potential therapeutic targets. Our group has been working on virulence regulation in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, which are of world-wide importance. These pathogens rely on quorum sensing (QS) systems and type III secretion system (T3SS) to invade their hosts, which is finely regulated by a group of transcription factors and signalling pathways. Research in our group has led to the identification of a variety of new virulence factors and mechanisms. We have mapped the transcription factor-based regulatory networks for both superbugs. Tuning their expression and developing inhibitors are key for the development of strategies to control Pseudomonas infections.
The other topic in my group is RNA epigenetics in bacteria. We have mapped the m6A methylome and rG4 structures in bacteria, and found unique patterns other than eukaryotes. Our work demonstrates that m6A and rG4 exist in a wide-range of bacterial species, which suggests their potential important roles in gene regulation.
Representative Recent PublicationsXie Y^#, Ding Y^#, Shao X, Yao C, Li J, Liu J, Deng X*. Pseudomonas syringae senses polyphenols via phosphorelay crosstalk to inhibit virulence. EMBO Reports. (2021) doi: 10.15252/embr.202152805.
Shao X^#, Tan M^#, Xie Y, Yao C, Wang T, Huang H, Zhang Y, Ding Y, Liu J, Han L, Hua C, Wang X*, Deng X*. Integrated regulatory network in Pseudomonas syringae reveals dynamics of virulence. Cell Reports. (2021) 34:108920.
Wang T^#, Sun W^#, Fan L^#, Hua C^#, Wu N, Fan S, Zhang J, Deng X*, Yan J.* An atlas of the binding specificities of transcription factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa directs prediction of novel regulators in virulence. eLife. (2021) 10:e61885.
Feng Z, Zhou F, Tan M, Wang T, Chen Y, Xu W, Li B, Wang X*, Deng X*, He M*, Targeting m6A Modification Inhibits Herpes Virus 1 Infection. Genes & Diseases (2021) doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2021.02.004.
Fan L^#, Wang T^#, Hua C^#, Sun W^#, Li X, Grunwald L, Liu J, Wu N, Shao X, Yin Y, Yan J*, Deng X*. A compendium of DNA-binding specificities of transcription factors in Pseudomonas syringae. Nature Communications. (2020) 11:4947.
Xie Y, Liu W, Shao X, Zhang W, Deng X*. Signal transduction schemes in Pseudomonas syringae. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. (2020) 18:3415-3424.
Shao X, Xie Y, Zhang Y, Liu J, Ding Y, Wu M, Wang X, Deng X*. Novel drug discovery strategies for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Expert Opinion On Drug Discovery. (2020) 12:1403-23.
Hua C, Wang T, Shao X, Xie Y, Huang H, Liu J, Zhang W, Zhang Y, Ding Y, Jiang L, Wang X, Deng X*. Pseudomonas syringae dual-function protein Lon switches between virulence and metabolism by acting as both DNA-binding transcriptional regulator and protease in different environments. Environmental Microbiology. (2020) 22(7):2968-88.
Shao X^#, Zhang W^#, Umar M^#, Xie Y, Wang T, Zhang Y, Yang L, Kwok C*, Deng X*. Widespread of RNA G-quadruplexes (rG4) structures mediate post-transcriptional regulation in bacteria. mBio. (2020) 11(1):e02926-19.
Xie Y, Shao X, Deng X*. Regulation of Type III secretion system in Pseudomonas syringae. Environmental Microbiology. (2019) (12):4465-4477.
Zhang Y^#, Zhou C^#, Pu Q, Wu Q, Tan S, Shao X, Zhang W, Xie Y, Li R, Yu X, Wang R, Zhang L, Wu M*, Deng X*. Pseudomonas aeruginosa regulatory protein AnvM controls pathogenicity in anaerobic environment and impacts host defense. mBio. (2019) 10(4):e01362-19.
Huang H^#, Shao X^#, Xie Y^#, Wang T, Zhang Y, Wang X*, Deng X*. An integrated genomic regulatory network of virulence-related transcriptional factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nature Communications. (2019) 10: 2931.
Xie Y, Shao X, Zhang Y, Liu J, Wang T, Zhang W, Hua C, Deng X*. Pseudomonas savastanoi two-component system RhpRS switches between virulence and metabolism by tuning phosphorylation state and sensing nutritional conditions. mBio. (2019) 10(2):e02838-18.
Wang T^#, Cai Z^#, Shao X, Zhang W, Xie Y, Zhang Y, Hua C, Schuster S C, Yang L, Deng X*. The pleiotropic effects of c-di-GMP content in Pseudomonas syringae. Applied Environmental Microbiology. (2019) 85(10):e00152-19.
Shao X^#, Zhang X^#, Zhang Y, Zhu M, Yang P, Yuan J, Xie Y, Zhou T, Wang W, Chen S, Liang H*, Deng X*. RpoN-dependent direct regulation of quorum sensing and the type VI secretion system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Journal of Bacteriology. (2018) 200(16). pii: e00205-18.
Wang J^#, Shao X^#, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, Yang P, Yuan J, Wang T, Yin C, Wang W, Chen S, Liang H*, Deng X*. HrpS is a global regulator on T3SS and non-T3SS genes in Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. phaseolicola. Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions. (2018) 31(12): 1232-1243.
Zhou T^#, Yin C^#, Zhang Y, Shi H, Wang J, Sun L, Shao X, Gao R, Wang W*, Deng X*. Lon protease is involved in RhpRS-mediated regulation of type III secretion in Pseudomonas syringae. Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions. (2016) 29(10): 807-814.
Zhao J, Yu X, Zhu M, Kang H, Ma J, Wu M, Gan J*, Deng X* and Liang H*. Structural and molecular mechanism of CdpR involved in quorum-sensing and bacterial virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. PLOS Biology. (2016) 14(4): e1002449.
Kong W^#, Zhao J^#, Zhu M, Kang H, Zhou T, Deng X*, Liang H*. ChIP-seq reveals molecular mechanisms of global regulator AlgR mediating cyclic di-GMP synthesis and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nucleic Acids Research. (2015) 43(17): 8268-82.
Deng X^#*, Chen K^#, Luo GZ, Weng X, Ji Q, Zhou T, He C*. Widespread occurrence of N6-methyladenosine in bacterial mRNA. Nucleic Acids Research. (2015) 43(13): 6557-67.
26 October 2021


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