Faculty Profile
HE, Mingliang

HE, Mingliang (何明亮)

Professor

Postdoc (Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis)

PhD (Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

BS (Sichuan University)

  • 1A-202, 2/F, Block 1, To Yuen Building
  • +852 3442-4492
  • +852 3442-0549
  • CityUHK Scholars
  • Molecular Virology • Host-Virus Interaction • Cellular Innate Immunity • Target-specific Drug Development for Anticancer/Antiviral • Signal Transduction

Prof. He obtained his PhD degree from Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry (and Cell Biology), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1995. He obtained his postdoctoral training in Roswell Park Cancer Institute at Buffalo (1995–1997) and Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis in the USA (1997–2000). Then he joined The University of Hong Kong as a Research Assistant Professor in 2000, Associate Professor in The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2005. He joined Department of Biomedical Sciences at City University of Hong Kong in 2015.

Research Interests/Areas

Keywords

  • Host-virus Interaction
  • Innate Immunity
  • Signal Transduction
  • Molecular Virology
  • Target-specific Drug Development for Antiviral/Anticancer/Anti-ageing

Research Interests

  • Molecular Virology: Mechanisms of human diseases caused by virus infections
  • Ageing and Cancer Biology: Ageing related human diseases and the underlying mechanisms caused by virus infections (such as human cancers, senescence, etc).
  • Drug development: Target-based antiviral/anticancer/anti-ageing drugs

Common diseases (such as acute and chronic infectious diseases, human cancers) and ageing are major challenges for public health and great economic burden of societies. There are approximately 15 million new cancer cases and 8 million cancer-related deaths annually with constant increasing numbers in the last decade. Every individual is affected by some pathogens from time to time in his/her life; and infectious Diseases caused by pathogen invasion kill at least 5 million people worldwide every year (http://www.who.int/mediacentre). Accompanied with economic globalization, infectious diseases spread rapidly from one place to other countries that may cause pandemic infections and high mortalities. Virus (such as hepatitis virus, Ebola virus, human immunodeficient virus, influenza virus, enterovirus) infections cause a variety of human infectious diseases and cancers. 2019-nCoV pandemic caused health disaster worldwide without either effective prevention or treatment means. It is urgently to put more effort to investigate the underlining mechanisms of these diseases and to develop effective therapeutic drugs. However, there is no common drug against these viruses. Research on cancer and virus would facilitate us to discover new biomarkers for early and accurate diagnosis, to identify new targets for drug development and to develop new prevention and therapeutic strategies.

Stress response is a common mechanism of cells upon internal and external stress stimuli including oxidative stress in tumors, virus invasion and ageing. Long term stress response would lead to varieties of physiological and pathological changes that contribute to many diseases. The stress proteins, including protein chaperons (mainly heat shock protein, HSPs) and RNA chaperons (hnRNPs), play crucial role in cellular homeostasis and innate immunity. The dysfunction or dysregulation of these proteins contribute to a variety of human diseases, such as cancers, neurovegetative diseases, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases caused by viruses. Viruses take advantage of HSPs to facilitate their activities for establishing successful infections. For example, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is one of the major and fast responses of living cells to exogenous and endogenous insults. Recent studies have highlighted ER stress response because the unfolded protein response (UPR) by expanding its protein-folding capacity adapts to minimize the harmful effects of accumulated misfolded proteins under both physiological and pathological conditions, and therefore eliciting protective processes such as autophagy, antioxidant responses, innate immune response and inflammatory response. They are key processes not only for limiting and eradicating pathogen invasions, but for inducing cancers and other ageing-related diseases as well. Based on the results from these fundamental studies, we are interested in developing new drugs against viral infections, human cancers and ageing.

Grants

  • General Research Fund (GRF) of HKSAR
  • Innovative Technology Fund (ITF) of HKSAR
  • National Basic Science Development Program of China (973)
  • National Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
  • Fund of The Science Technology and Innovation Committee of Shenzhen Municipality

Position Availability

The highly competitive applicants (Bachelor of Science degree from a prestigious university with CGPA ≥3.5/4 or 85/100; or Master of Science degree with strong publication record as the first/co-first author) may apply for PhD studies through programmes 1) Hong Kong PhD Fellowship and 2) the University’s Scholarship. The less competitive applicants (master’s degree from a well-recognised university without strong publications) may apply for PhD studies through self-financing PhD programme. Interested candidates please send your CV and/or a research proposal (based on one of our publications in the last 5 years) to Prof. He (email: minglihe@cityu.edu.hk).

Editor / Editorial Membership

  • Signal Transduction and Target Therapy (Nature Publishing Group, 2018–)
  • MedComm (Wiley, 2020–)
  • Genes & Diseases (Elsevier, 2020–)
  • American Journal of Cancer Research, USA (2011–)
  • Scientific Reports (2012-2020).

Lab Members

Senior Research Scientist

  • Dr WAN Qianya

Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Dr FENG Yaxiu
  • Dr WANG Yiran

PhD Students

  • CAO Xue
  • CHEN Cien
  • CHEN Peiran
  • CHEN Sheng
  • LEUNG Hou Ying Samantha
  • HU Huan
  • QIN Hanrui
  • QIN Leiying
  • WANG Yuting

Previous Lab Members

  • Prof. LI Bin (二級教授, Guangzhou Medical U)
  • Prof. YAO Hong (二級教授, Kunming Medical University)
  • Prof. PAN Mingyu (香江學者; Professor, Nanjing Medical University)
  • Prof. LV Xiaoming (香江學者; Associate Professor, Nanjing Medical University)
  • Prof. LI Zhi (Postdoctoral Fellow, Shann Xi Normal University)
  • Prof. ZHAO Jin (PhD Student; Professor, Shenzhen CDC)
  • Prof. LU Jing (PhD Student; Professor, Guangdong CDC)
  • Prof. YI Lina (PhD Student; Professor, Guangdong CDC)
  • Prof. LI Huangcan (PhD Student; Professor, Guangzhou Medical University)
  • Dr LU Jiuan (Joint PhD Student; Associate Professor, Nanfang Medical University, Guangzhou)
  • Prof. LIU Zheng (PhD Student; AssociateProfessor, Chinese Medical Institute, Tianjin)
  • Prof. LIANG Bing (Joint PhD Student; Professor, Guangzhou Medical University)
  • Prof. DONG Liang (Postdoc; PI in Guangzhou Medical University)
  • Dr DAN Xuelian (PhD Student; Faculty Member / Doctor, Chongqing Medical University)
  • Dr MEN Ruotin (PhD Student; Faculty Member / Doctor, Huaxi Medical College, Sichuan University)
  • Dr WU Mandi (PhD Student; Faculty Member, Inner Mongolia University)
  • Dr DONG Qingming (PhD Student, Senior Research Fellow, University of Tennessee, USA)
  • Dr HE Lai (PhD Student; Director and CEO, Shenzhen)
  • Dr ZHOU Fanghang (PhD Student; Senior Director (高級總監), Chongqing Pharscin Pharmaceutical (重慶華森製藥))
  • Dr SONG Dan (PhD Student; 中級研究員, 恒瑞醫藥)
  • Dr LI Yichen (PhD Student;, 高級研究員, 藥明康德)
  • Dr FENG Zhuoying (PhD Student; Postdoctoral Fellow, Case West Reserve University, USA)
  • Dr FALETI Oluwassijibomi Damala (PhD Student; Postdoc, University of Chicago)
  • Dr WANG Xiong (PhD Student; Postdoc, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
  • Ms DONG Qi (Senior Research Assistant)

Publication with Undergraduate (UG) Students

  1. Chan W (UG), He B, Wang X, He ML* Pandemic COVID-19: current status of antiviral practice and challenges for developing highly effective antiviral therapies. Genes and Diseases, 2020 Jul 7. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2020.07.001.
  2. Wang Y, Wu M, Li Y, Yuen HM (UG), He ML* The effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on modulating innate immunity and strategies of combating inflammatory response for COVID-19 therapy. Journal of Biomedical Science 2022 May 3; 29(27):1-19.
  3. Feng Yaxiu, Xiong Wang, Chen Cien, Wang Di (UG), Hou Changshun, Wang Yiran, Hu Huan, Chen Peiran, Wan Qianya, Yao Xi*, He Ming-Liang* Carbon Quantum Dots assisted Virus Tracking: from Skin to Brain. Adv. Mater. 2025 Jul 6; e2508464.

Publication with MSc Students

  • Feng Y, Young CH (MSc), Lau SH, He ML* Outbreak Control Management: Lessons from SARS-Coronavirus Infections in 2003 and 2020-2022 in Hong Kong, An International Municipality with High Frequency Travelers. MedComm 2022 Jul 25; 3(3):e158.
  • Wan Q, Zhu L, Chen C, Zhong L, Leung H (TPg), Li W, Xu C, Yao X, Hu H, Wu M, Hou Y, Chu H, Wang Y, Chen S, Pan M*, Cai Z*, He ML* PIM1 Attenuates Innate Immunity to Foster Coronavirus Replication through Ubiquitin Ligase b-TrCP Mediated IFNAR1 Degradation. Advanced Science (Weinh). 2025 Jul 6; e03487. doi: 10.1002/advs.202503487.

Selected Publications (out of 178, *corresponding author)

  1. Feng Y, Wang X, Chen C, Wang D, Hou C, Wang Y, Hu H, Chen P, Wan Q, Yao Xi*, He ML*. Carbon Quantum Dots assisted Virus Tracking: from Skin to Brain. Adv. Mater. 2025 Jul 6; e2508464.
  2. Wan Q, Zhu L, Chen C, Zhong L, Leung H, Li W, Xu C, Yao X, Hu H, Wu M, Hou Y, Chu H, Wang Y, Chen S, Pan M*, Cai Z*, He ML*. PIM1 Attenuates Innate Immunity to Foster Coronavirus Replication through Ubiquitin Ligase b-TrCP Mediated IFNAR1 Degradation. Advanced Science (Weinh). 2025 Jul 6; e03487. doi: 10.1002/advs.202503487.
  3. Wu M, Li W, Leung H, Wang Y, Wan Q, Chen P, Chen C, Li Y, Yao X*, He ML*. Targeting WDPF domain of Hsp27 achieves a broad spectrum of antiviral MedComm. 2025 Feb 26; 6(3):e70032.
  4. Xie YX, Wang L, Zhou ZH, Liu WJ, Wang W, Yang JH, He ML, Qiu JG, Jiang BH. m6A RNA methyltransferase METTL16 induces Cr (VI) carcinogenesis and lung cancer development through glutamine biosynthesis and GLUL expression. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2024 Dec 5; 480:136093.
  5. Wang Y, Song D, Li Y, Qin L, Hu H, Wan Q, Wu M, Schang L, Weiss R*, He ML*. ERp57 facilitates ZIKV-induced DNA damage via NS2B/NS3 complex formation. Emerging Microbes and Infections 2024 Oct 15; 2417864.
  6. Cao C, Hou C, Wang X, Lv D, Feng Y, Chen P, Wang J, He ML*, Yao X*. Liquid Metal-Enhanced Highly Adhesive Electrodes for Multiple Functional Epidermal Bioelectronics. Adv. Funct. Materials 2024 April; 34(40):2403671.
  7. Wu M, Wan Q, Dan X, Wang Y, Li W, Chen C, Li Y, He ML*. Targeting Ser78 phosphorylation achieves potent antiviral effects against enterovirus A71 infections. Emerging Microbes and Infections 2024 Dec; 13(1):2368221.
  8. Deng Z, Li H, Chen S, Wang N, Liu G, Liu D, Ou W, Xu F, Wang X, Lei D, Lo PC, Li YY, Lu J, Yang M, He ML*, Zhu G*. Near-Infrared-Activated anticancer platinum (IV) complexes directly photooxidize biomolecules in an oxygen-independent manner. Nature Chemistry 2023 June 22; 15(7):930-939.
  9. Lu G, Chen C, Wang Z, Wu X, Huang X, Luo J, Wang XL, He ML*, Yao X*. High Performance Supramolecular Organogel Adhesives for Antimicrobial Applications in Diverse Conditions. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2023 Sep 7; 15(37): 44194-204.
  10. Li H, Wang X Wang Y, Li Y, Chen Y, Wong TY, He J, He ML*. Secreted LRPAP1 binds and triggers IFNAR1 degradation to facilitate virus evasion from cellular innate immunity. Signal Transduc Target Ther 2023 Sep 25; 8:374.
  11. Chen P, Wu M, He Y, Jiang B, He ML*. Metabolic alterations upon SARS-CoV-2 infection and potential therapeutic targets against coronavirus infection 2023 Signal Transduc Target Ther 2023 Jun 7; 8(1):237.
  12. Hu H, Feng X, He ML*. Targeting Type I Interferon Induction and Signaling: How Zika Virus Escapes from Host Innate Immunity. International Journal of Biological Sciences 2023 Jun 4; 19(10):3015-3028.
  13. Xu WW,. Liao L, Dai W, Zheng CC, Tan XP, He Y, Zhang QH, Huang ZH, Chen WY, He QY, Qin YR, Chen KS, He ML, Law S, Lung ML, Li B. Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screening identifies a targetable MEST-PURA interaction in cancer metastasis EBioMedine 2023 May 5; 92:104587.
  14. Wang H, Hu L, Li H, Lai YT, Wei X, Xu X, Cao Z, Cao H, Wan Q, Chang YY, Xu A, Zhou Q, Jiang G, He ML, Sun H. Mitochondrial ATP synthase as a direct molecular target of chromium(III) to ameliorate hyperglycaemia stress. Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):1738.
  15. Long Y, Chong T, Lyu X, Chen L, Luo X, Faleti OD, Deng S, Wang F, He ML, Qian Z, Zhao H, Zhou W, Guo X, Chen C, Li X. FOXD1-dependent RalA-ANXA2-Src complex promotes CTC formation in breast cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Oct 13; 41(1):301.
  16. Li Y, Zhang Q, Wu M, Zhang P, …, Zhou S*, He ML*. Suppressing MDSC infiltration in tumor recruitment serves as an option for treating ovary cancer metastasis. International Journal of Biological Sciences 2022 May 24; 18(9):3697-3713.
  17. Yan Q, Duan M, Chen C, Deng Z, Wu M, Yu P, He ML*, Zhu G*, Hou KN*, Sun J*. Organocatalytic Discrimination of Non-Directing Aryl and Heteroaryl Groups: Enantioselective Synthesis of Bioactive Indole-Containing Thiarylmethanes Chemical Science 2022 Apr; 13(19):5767-5773.
  18. Feng Z, Zhou F, Tan M, Wang T, Chen Y, Xu W, Li B, Deng X*, Wang X*, He ML*. Targeting m6A Modification Inhibits Herpes Virus 1 Infection. Genes & Diseases 2022 Jun 9; 1114-1128.
  19. Feng Y, Young CH, Lau SH, He ML*. Outbreak Control Management: Lessons from SARS-Coronavirus Infections in 2003 and 2020-2022 in Hong Kong, An International Municipality with High Frequency Travelers. MedComm 2022 Jul 25; 3(3):e158.
  20. Zhou F, Wan Q, Chen S, Chen Y, Wang PH, Yao X*, He ML*. SARS-CoV2 NSP1 Suppresses IFNβ Expression through Interacting with and Retaining hnRNP A2/B1 Cytosol Localization Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2021; 6:371.
  21. Wang Y, Wu M, Li Y, Yuen HM, He ML*. The effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on modulating innate immunity and strategies of combating inflammatory response for COVID-19 therapy. Journal of Biomedical Science 2022 May 3; 29(27):1-19.
  22. Li Z, Li Y, Li X, Wu M, He ML*, Sun J*. Organocatalytic Asymmetric Formal Oxidative Coupling for the Construction of All-aryl Quaternary Stereocenters. Chemical Sciences 2021 Jul 29; 12(35):11793-98.
  23. Wang Z, Yi B, Wu M, Lv D, He ML*, Liu M*, Yao X*. Bioinspired supramolecular slippery organogels for controlling pathogen spread by respiratory droplets. Advanced Functional Materials 2021 Jun 19; doi:10.1002/adfm8.202102888
  24. Zhou F, Wan Q, Chen Y, He ML*. PIM1 Kinase Facilitates Zika Virus Evasion by Suppressing Host Cells’ Natural Immunity. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2021 Jun 2; 6(1):207.
  25. Yang L, Peltier R, Zhang M, Song D, Huang H, Chen G, Chen Y, Zhou F, Hao Q, Bian L, He ML*, Wang Z*, Hu Y*, Sun H*. Desuccinylation-Triggered Peptide Self-Assembly: Live Cell Imaging of SIRT5 Activity and Mitochondrial Activity Modulation J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 2020 Sep 29; doi: 10.1021/jacs.0c08463
  26. Wan Q, Song D, He B, Li H, He ML*. Stress proteins: the biological functions in virus infection, present and challenges for target-based antiviral drug development. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2020 Jul; doi: 10.1038/s41392-020-00233-4
  27. Li H, Feng Z, He ML*. Lipid metabolism alteration contributes to and maintains the properties of cancer stem cells. Theranostics 2020 May 30; 10(16):7053-7069.
  28. Zhou F, Wan Q, Lu J, Chen Y, Lu G, He ML*. Pim1 Impacts Enterovirus A71 Replication and Represents a Potential Target in Antiviral Therapy. iScience 2019 Sep 27; 19:715-727.
  29. Li C, Huang L, Sun W, Chen Y, He ML*, Yue J*, Ballard H*. Saikosaponin D suppresses enterovirus A71 infection by inhibiting autophagy. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2019 Feb 22; 4:4.
  30. Dan X, Wan Q, Yi L, Lu J, Jiao Y, Li H, Song D, Chen Y, Xu H, He ML*. Hsp27 Responds to and Facilitates Enterovirus A71 Replication by Enhancing Viral Internal Ribosome Entry Site-Mediated Translation. J Virol 2019 Apr 17; 93(9). pii: e02322-18
  31. Dong L, Dong Q, Chen Y, Li Y, Zhang B, Zhou F, Lyu X, Chen GG, Lai P, Kung HF, He ML*. Novel HDAC5 interacting motifs of Tbx3 are essential for suppressing E-cadherin expression and promoting metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2018 Aug; 3:22.
  32. Dong L., Lyu X, Faleti OD, He ML*. The special stemness functions of Tbx3 in stem cells and cancer development. Seminars in Cancer Biol. 2019 Aug; 57:105-110.
  33. Dong Q, Men R, Dan X, Chen Y, Li H, Chen G, Zee B, Wang MHT, He ML*. Hsc70 regulates the IRES activity and serves as an antiviral target of enterovirus A71 infection. Antiviral Res. 2018 Feb; 150:39-46; doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.11.020
  34. Liu P, Zhang H, He W, Li H, Jiang J, Liu M, Sun H, He M, Cui J, Jiang L, Yao X*. Development of ‘Liquid-like’ Copolymer Nanocoatings for Reactive Oil-Repellent Surface. ACS Nano 2017 Feb 28; 11(2):2248-2256.
  35. Hu JJ, Song W, Zhang SD, …, He ML*, Fan H*. HBx-upregulated lncRNA UCA1 promotes cell growth and tumorigenesis by recruiting EZH2 and repressing p27Kip1/CDK2 signaling Sci Rep. 2016 Mar 24; 6:23521.
  36. He Y, Zou L, Chong MKC, …, Zhou Y*, He ML*, Wang MH*. Genetic Evolution of Human Enterovirus A71 Subgenotype C4 in Shenzhen, China, 1998-2013. J. Infection 2016; 72(6):731-737.
  37. Xie N, Yuan K, Zhou L, …, He M, Feng P, Nice EC, Wei Y, Zhang H*, Yang J* & Huang C*. PRKAA/AMPK restricts HBV replication through promotion of autophagic degradation. Autophagy 2016 Sep; 12(9):1507-20.
  38. Wu C, Wang MH, …, Zhang R*, He ML*. Concurrent epidemics of influenza A/H3N2 and A/H1N1pdm in Southern China: A serial cross-sectional study. J Infection 2016 Mar 1; 72(3):369-371.
  39. Lu J, Xu X, …, He ML, Li X. Predictive value of miR-9 as a potential biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis Brit J Cancer 2014 Jan 21; 110(2):392-8.
  40. Cheng X, Tan Y, He ML, et al. Epidemiological dynamics and phylogeography of influenza in southern China J. Infect. Dis. 2013 Jan; 207(1):106-14.
  41. Lu J, Yi L, …, He ML*. Enterovirus 71 Disrupts Interferon signaling by Reducing Interferon Receptor I. J. Viology 2012; 86(7):3767-76.
  42. Yi L, Lu J, Kung HF, He ML*. The virology and developments towards control of human enterovirus 71. Crit. Rev. in Microbiol. 2011; 37(4):313-27.
  43. Zhang JF, He ML, Fu WM, et al. Primate-specific miRNA-637 Inhibits Tumorigenesis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma by disrupting Stat3 signaling. Hepatology 2011; 54(6):2137-48.
  44. Lu J, He ML*, Wang L, et al. MiR-26a inhibits cell growth and tumorigenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma through repression of EZH2. Cancer Research 2011; 71(1):225-233.
  45. Lu J, Li XP, Dong Q, Kung HF, He ML*. TBX2 and TBX3, the special value for anticancer targets. BBA-reviews on Cancer 2010; 1806(2):268-274.
  46. Li G, Wu Z, …, He ML and Li XP. MicroRNA-10b induced by Epstein-Barr virus-encoded latent membrane protein-1 promotes the metastasis of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Cancer Letters 2010; 299(1):29-36.
  47. Ma Y, Yu J, …, Cheng CHK, He ML*. Glucose-Regulated Protein 78 Is an Intracellular Antiviral Factor against Hepatitis B Virus Mol. Cell. Proteom. 2009; 8 2582-2594.
  48. Liang B#, He ML#, Chan CY, et al. The Use of Folate-PEG-grafted- hybranched-PEI Nonviral Vector for the Inhibition of Glioma Growth in The Rat. Biomaterials 2009; 30(23-24):4014-20.
  49. He ML*, Zheng B, et al. Inhibition of SARS-Associated Coronavirus Infection and Replication by RNA Interference. JAMA-J AM MED ASSOC 2003; 290:2665-2666.

17 July 2025

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