Research

I enjoy thinking about how macromolecules at the nanometer scale could generate cellular motions at the micrometer scale. In particular, I am using in situ cryo-ET to study how flagellar motions are generated. Outside the lab, I like hiking and photography. Astrophotography is my favorite since it helps me to sharpen my skills on motion correction to image dim deep-sky objects.

Publications

1. Chen, Z., Suzuki, H., Kobayashi, Y., Wang, A. C., Dimaio, F., Kawashima, S. A., Walz, T., Kapoor, T. M. Structural insights into Mdn1, an essential AAA protein required for ribosome biogenesis. Cell 175, 822-834 (2018).

2. Kawashima, S. A.*, Chen, Z.*, Aoi, Y., Patgiri, A., Kobayashi, Y., Nurse, P., Kapoor, T. M. Potent, reversible and specific chemical inhibitors of eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis. Cell 167, 512-524 (2016) (* equal contributions).

3. Popp, B. V., Chen, Z., Ball, Z. T. Sequence-specific inhibition of a designed metallopeptide catalyst. Chem. Commun. 48, 7492-7494 (2012).

4. Chen, Z., Vohidov, F., Coughlin, J. M., Stagg, L .J., Arold, S. T., Ladbury, J. E., Ball, Z. T. Catalytic protein modification with dirhodium metallopeptides: specificity in designed and natural systems. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 10138-10145 (2012).

5. Chen, Z., Popp, B. V., Bovet, C. L., Ball, Z. T. Site-specific protein modification with a dirhodium metallopeptide catalyst. ACS Chem. Biol. 6, 920-925 (2011).

6. Chen, Z., Wang, Y., Wang, W., Li, Z. Nanofluidic electrokinetics in nanoparticle crystal. Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 102105 (2009).

7. Chen, Z., Zhao, Y., Wang, W., Li, Z. Microfluidic patterning of nanoparticle monolayer. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics 7, 585-591 (2009).