Education and Work experience
B.S. Life Science, Xiamen University, 2008
Ph.D. Cellular & Molecular Biology, Xiamen University, 2013
Professional Experience
Engineer, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, 2015
Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, 2019
Research Area
Development of small molecule drugs targeting novel kinases
Our research lies in two major areas:
(1) Discovery and mechanistic research of bioactive natural products
Natural products have long been considered as valuable source for drug development. Using traditional isolation and biosynthetic approaches, we aim to discover natural products with novel structural basis and biological activities; We further identify their direct targets and dissect the detailed molecular mechanisms by chemoproteomic approaches.
(2) Functional and regulatory mechanism study on potential therapeutic targets
We screen bioactive small molecules targeting potential therapeutic targets (such as untargeted kinases, epigenetic enzymes and so on), offer preclinical proof of concepts for therapeutic targeting these targets and provide lead compounds with novel structures.
Selected Publications (# first author,* corresponding author)：
[1] Su N, Lian W, Zhang B, Tian Y, Li L, Chen Y, Zhi X, Zeng T, Wu Q, Chen L, Zhou D, Wang HR, Cheng SC, Li L*, Deng X*. Inhibiting NEDD4 in triple-negative breast cancer cells reprograms tumor immune microenvironment via the β-TrCP/YAP/ECM axis. Cell Rep Med. 2025 Oct 21;6(10):102420.
[2] Li L*，#, Wang Y, Wang Y, Li X, Deng Q, Gao F, Lian W, Li Y, Gui F, Wei Y, Zhu SJ, Yun CH, Zhang L, Hu Z, Xu Q, Wu X, Chen L, Zhou D, Zhang J, Xia F*, Deng X*. Dimeric natural product panepocyclinol A inhibits STAT3 via di-covalent modification. Acta Pharm Sin B. 2025 Jan;15(1):409-423.
[3] Wu Z, Liu X, Yan XE, Wu X, Huang W, Li J, Xiu Y, Lv C, Sun C, Wang Z, Xu G, Wu X, Hu Z, Huang H, Huang X, Zhang J*, Yun CH*, Li L*, Deng X*. Discovery of Potent and Selective Pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine Derivatives as Fourth-Generation EGFR Inhibitors Targeting Triple Mutations. J Med Chem. 2025 Sep 25;68(18):19205-19228.
[4] Gao F, Wu Z, Lin A, Wu X, Zhang B, Liu L, Lu Y, Geng S, Huang Z, Chen Y, Zhang J, Li L*, Deng X*. Discovery of an ALK degrader for lorlatinib-resistant compound mutations. Eur J Med Chem. 2025 Oct 15;296:117835.
[5] Zeng J, Li L#, Sun C, Sheng S, Tan Y, Chen J, Xia F, Deng X*, Xu X*. Structure-Based Discovery of Active Pan-KRas Inhibitors Targeting G12D Mutants by Enhanced Sampling Simulations. J Phys Chem B. 2025 Sep 18;129(37):9283-9292.
[6] Chu Y, Chen S, Yang M, Chen Y, Fang H, Huang P, Xie Y, Sun C, Chen Y, Zhang B, Li L, Mu H, Song D, Cheng W, Wang C, Jiang W, Xu X, He Z, Chen S, Liu M, Ma J, Yang M, Cao J, Gao J, Shen J, Zhang L, Bai Y, Liu Z, Chen J, Dai S, Zeng YA, Zhao Y, Zhou H, Chen C, Ru H, Tan L, Chi X, Wang F, Gao D, Lin M, Deng X, Jiang H. A rapid imaging-based screen for induced-proximity degraders identifies a potent degrader of oncoprotein SKP2. Nat Biotechnol. 2025 Sep 10. doi: 10.1038/s41587-025-02793-8
[7] Wu Z, Zhu X, Hong A, He G, Wang Z, Xu Q, Hu Z, Wu X, Wang Y, Chen Q, Zhao X, Li L*, Deng X*. Discovery of urea-based pleuromutilin derivatives as potent gram-positive antibacterial agents. Bioorg Chem. 2023 Jul;136:106547.
[8] Li L, Wang Y, Chen N, Li X, Li H, Jin L, Ou Y, Kong XJ, Cao S, Xu Q, Wu X, Han J, Deng X. Exploring Diversity through Dimerization in Natural Products by a Rational Tandem Mass-Based Molecular Network Strategy. Org Lett. 2023 Jun 9;25(22):4016-4021.
[9] Zhu X, Hong A, Sun X, Wang W, He G, Luo H, Wu Z, Xu Q, Hu Z, Wu X, Huang D, Li L*, Zhao X*, Deng X*. Nigericin is effective against multidrug resistant gram-positive bacteria, persisters, and biofilms. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Dec 20;12:1055929.
[10] Su J, Zheng J, Huang W, Zhang Y, Lv C, Zhang B, Jiang L, Cheng T, Yuan Q, Xia N, Zhang J, Li L*, Li L*, Deng X*. PIKfyve inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants including Omicron. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2022 May 24;7(1):167.
[11] Wang Y#, Zhang L#, Wei Y#, Huang W#, Li L#, Wu AA, Dastur A, Greninger P, Bray WM, Zhang CS, Li M, Lian W, Hu Z, Wang X, Liu G, Yao L, Guh JH, Chen L, Wang HR, Zhou D, Lin SC, Xu Q, Shen Y, Zhang J, Jurica MS, Benes CH, Deng X*. Pharmacological Targeting of Vacuolar H+-ATPase via Subunit V1G Combats Multidrug-Resistant Cancer. Cell Chem Biol. 2020 Nov 19;27(11):1359-1370.e8.
[12] Li Y#, Liu Z#, Li L#, Lian W, He Y, Khalil E, Mäkilä E, Zhang W, Torrieri G, Liu X, Su J, Xiu Y, Fontana F, Salonen J, Hirvonen J, Liu W, Zhang H*, Santos HA*, Deng X*. Tandem-Mass-Tag Based Proteomic Analysis Facilitates Analyzing Critical Factors of Porous Silicon Nanoparticles in Determining Their Biological Responses under Diseased Condition. Adv Sci (Weinh) . 2020 Jun 23;7(15):2001129.
[13] Yin C, Zhu B, Zhang T, Liu T, Chen S, Liu Y, Li X, Miao X, Li S, Mi X, Zhang J, Li L, Wei G, Xu ZX, Gao X, Huang C, Wei Z, Goding CR, Wang P, Deng X, Cui R. Pharmacological Targeting of STK19 Inhibits Oncogenic NRAS-Driven Melanomagenesis. Cell. 2019 Feb 21;176(5):1113-1127.e16.
[14] Li L, Liu Y, Chen HZ, Li FW, Wu JF, Zhang HK, He JP, Xing YZ, Chen Y, Wang WJ, Tian XY, Li AZ, Zhang Q, Huang PQ, Han J, Lin T, Wu Q. Impeding the interaction between Nur77 and p38 reduces LPS-induced inflammation. Nat Chem Biol. 2015 May;11(5):339-46.
[15] Chen HZ#, Liu QF#, Li L#, Wang WJ, Yao LM, Yang M, Liu B, Chen W, Zhan YY, Zhang MQ, Cai JC, Zheng ZH, Lin SC, Li BA, Wu Q. The orphan receptor TR3 suppresses intestinal tumorigenesis in mice by downregulating Wnt signalling. Gut. 2012 May;61(5):714-24.
