光影微纳实验室聚焦单分子力学前沿,通过自主研发单分子磁镊、光镊及原子力显微镜等尖端技术平台,致力于在医药健康、生命科学、生物物理与化学交叉领域实现从0到1的原始创新突破。同时,我们积极推动国产单分子科研仪器的技术迭代,加速实现从1到N的产学研转化。实验室以衰老机制和肿瘤发生为核心科学问题,通过解析单分子结构动态变化规律,揭示衰老相关疾病发生的分子基础,推动基础研究成果向临床转化。我们的交叉科学研究体系涵盖四大方向:端粒生物学,表观遗传学,RNA生物学,以及下一代检测技术。当前研究重点聚焦于蛋白核酸互作,蛋白蛋白互作,以及精准靶向治疗策略和药物开发。

光影微纳实验室立足于南开大学和天开高教科创园,秉承南开大学“理以强国”的学术传统,践行“知中国、服务中国”的初心理念。面向2035科技强国目标,团队深耕单分子生物学领域,专注于单分子力学仪器和技术研发,成功推出m-Tracker单分子磁镊系统和核酸蛋白动态结构解析技术平台。

加入我们或者合作垂询:zyu[at]nankai.edu.cn

Publications at NKU (Click to Pubmed)

20: Wang Z, et al. AFM visualized condensation of single human telomeres mediated by TRF1. In preparation. 2025.


19: Wang Z, et al. Nanoscale conformational polymorphism of single human telomeres visualized by AFM. In preparation. 2025.


18: Lu M, et al. The Allosteric Pathways Regulating a Hammerhead Ribozyme. In preparation. 2025.


17: Cao Z, et al. Single-molecule Structural Dynamics of Human DNMT1 Autoactivation. In preparation. 2025.


16: Qin Y, Wu H, Yu Z, Shirinzadeh B, Han J. Development and test of a coarse-fine inverted span-scale dual positioning stage with antagonistic piezo-actuation configuration. Under review. 2025.


15: Gao H, Wang M, Wang Y, Cao Z, Lu M, Zhou J, Jing Y, Zhao Z, Ma K, Wang F, Yu Z. Absolute length distribution of human telomeres at the single-molecule level. Under revision. 2025.


14: Ma K, Yu Z. Quantifying Telomere Length: From Bulk Assays to Single-molecule Resolution. 2025. Just accepted by Biophysics Reports. Available online 2025-03-05. doi: 10.52601/bpr.2025.240068.


13:Liu J, Xiong L, Hu Y, Wang Z, Dai J, Li T, Guo X, Liu R, Yu Z, Li Y, Li Y. Probing Structural Variants of Irregular DNA G-Tracts (N ≤ 2) Using MspA Nanopores. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2025 Feb 20. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c19806.


12: Lu M, Cao Z, Xiong L, Deng H, Ma K, Liu N, Qin Y, Chen S, Chen J, Li Y, Liu Y, Yu Z. A Hammerhead Ribozyme Selects Mechanically Stable Conformations for Catalysis Against Viral RNA. Communications Biology. 2025 Feb 03; 8(1):165. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-07600-3.


11:  Gao H, Liu Y, Yu Z. Analyzing Telomeric Protein-DNA Interactions Using Single-Molecule Magnetic Tweezers. J Vis Exp. 2024 Aug 30;(210). doi: 10.3791/67251.


10: Nai S, Wang M, Yang J, Ling B, Dong Q, Yang X, Du X, Lu M, Liu L, Yu Z, Chen L. Novel role for Ddx39 in differentiation and telomere length regulation of embryonic stem cells. Cell Death Differ. 2024 Aug 6. doi: 10.1038/s41418-024-01354-x.


9: Ma K, Xiong L, Wang Z, Hu X, Qu L, Zhao X, Li Y, Yu Z. A DNA Force Circuit for Exploring Protein-Protein Interactions at the Single-molecule Level. Chin. J. Chem. 2024 Feb 23; 42(13):1456-1464. DOI:10.1002/cjoc.202300723

Selected by the editor to be the cover story.


8: Zhang Q, Sun T, Yu F, Liu W, Gao J, Chen J, Zheng H, Liu J, Tian W, Su M, Guo Y, Liu X, Pei Y, Wang Z, Chen S, Mu C, Lam SM, Shui G, Li Z, Yu Z, Miao C, Guo H, Lu C, Midgley A, Zhang Y, Chen G, Li C, Bian X, Liao X, Wang Y, Xiong W, Zhu H, Li Y, Chen Q. PAFAH2 suppresses PAF-like phospholipid-mediated synchronized ferroptosis to ameliorate AKI. Nat Chem Biol. 2024 Jan 29. doi: 10.1038/s41589-01528-7.


7: Li, P., Hou, S., Wu, Q., Chen, Y., Wang, B., Ren, H., Wang, J., Zhai, Z., Yu, Z., Lambert, C. J., Jia, C., & Guo, X. (2023). The role of halogens in Au-S bond cleavage for energy-differentiated catalysis at the single-bond limit. Nature communications, 14(1), 7695. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43639-8.

Highlighted by Christian Kuttner, the editor of Nature communications, as Featured articles in Inorganic and physical chemistry.


6: Wang Z, Cao Z, Ma K, Lu M, Wang M, Gao H, Gong D, Liang L, Yu Z. Reading Time and DNA Sequence Preference of TET3 CXXC Domain Revealed by Single-Molecule Profiling. Chin. J. Chem. 2023 Feb 08; 41(10), 1177-1184. DOI: 10.1002/cjoc.202200780. 

Selected by the editor to be the back cover story.


5: Liang L, Ma K, Wang Z, Janissen R, Yu Z. Dynamics and Inhibition of MLL1 CXXC Domain on DNA Revealed by Single-Molecule Quantification. Biophys J. 2021 Aug 17; 120(16):3283-3291. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.03.045. 

NEW AND NOTABLE | Biophysical Journal

Profiling selective binding to promoter CpG islands: a novel application of single-DNA mechanical footprinting assay

Wenmao Huang, Jie Yan

Published: Aug 17, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.07.010


4: Liang L, Wang Z, Qu L, Huang W, Guo S, Guan X, Zhang W, Sun F, Yuan H, Zou H, Liu H, Yu Z. Single-molecule multiplexed profiling of protein-DNA complexes using Magnetic Tweezers. J Biol Chem. 2021 Jan-Jun; 296:100327. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100327. 


3: Li X, Wang M, Zheng W, Huang W, Wang Z, Jin K, Liu L, Yu Z. Dynamics of TRF1 organizing a single human telomere. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Jan 25; 49(2):760-775. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1222. 


2: Ma X, Zhu M, Liu J, Li X, Qu L, Liang L, Huang W, Wang J, Li N, Chen JH, Zhang W, Yu Z. Interactions between PHD3-Bromo of MLL1 and H3K4me3 Revealed by Single-Molecule Magnetic Tweezers in a Parallel DNA Circuit. Bioconjug Chem. 2019 Dec 18; 30(12):2998-3006. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00665.


1: Li N, Wang J, Ma K, Liang L, Mi L, Huang W, Ma X, Wang Z, Zheng W, Xu L, Chen JH, Yu Z. The dynamics of forming a triplex in an artificial telomere inferred by DNA mechanics. Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Sep 5;47(15):e86. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz464.

 

Sponsors

State key laboratory of precision measuring technology and instruments (Tianjin University) 

National Natural Science Foundation of China (Tianjin)

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Collaborators


Members (Click to ResearchGate)

Team members:


  • Prof. dr. Zhongbo Yu

  • Zhiqiang Cao

  • Man Lu

  • Han Gao

  • Zhuofei Wang

  • Zhaoyi Zhai

  • Xin Hu

  • Xuetong Zhao

  • Yanling Liu

  • Dr. Kangkang Ma

  • Bingyan Wang

  • Yuanhua Wang

  • Huiying Guo

Alumni:


  • Dr. Lin Liang, on to a faculty position at Shanxi Agriculture University

  • BSc. Yanqiu Liu

  • BSc. Yueyuan Li

  • Dr. Ning Li, on to a faculty position at Tianjin University

  • BSc. Yueting Cai

  • Dr. Xiaofeng Ma

  • MSc. Lihua Qu

  • MSc. Wei Huang

  • Bsc. Zaihan Zheng

  • Dr. Xu Li, on to postdoc at CAS

  • MSc. Wei Zheng, on to Ph.D. at Nankai University

  • MSc. Junli Wang

  • Dr. Zeyu Wang, on to staff scientist at Peking Union Medical College

  • BSc. Xinrong Jiang

  • MSc. Meijie Wang

  • BSc. Yi Li

  • BSc. Cenling Gao