Dr. Tang leverages integrated medicinal chemical biology strategies to discover bioactive molecules for fundamental chemical biology research and innovative drug development. The group specializes in two principal areas: (1) discovery of novel anticancer therapeutics targeting epigenetic regulatory proteins, and (2) elucidation of protein–protein interaction networks in living cells via chemical proteomics to identify novel therapeutic targets.

Key recent contributions include: (1) development of innovative chemical crosslinkers for live-cell applications and their deployment in chemical proteomic studies to map protein–protein interaction networks (Red Biol., 2023; Nat Commun., 2024; Genome Biol., 2025); (2) development of selective TGF-β inhibitors targeting the bone microenvironment that demonstrate promising efficacy in disease models (Ann N Y Acad Sci., 2018), with subsequent technology transfer to a pharmaceutical partner and FDA Orphan Drug Designation awarded in 2022; and (3) development of two classes of highly potent non-nucleoside DNA methylation inhibitors as promising next-generation DNA demethylating agents, with patent protection secured through PCT and Chinese filings (PCT/CN2023/073678; CN2024104035592) and technology transfer completed in 2023 (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 2026; Adv Sci., 2025).

2002-2006	B.S. in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Jilin   University, Changchun, China Advisor: Prof. Ying Mu
2006-2011	Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry,  School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and   State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China Advisor: Prof.   Xuegong She Research areas: Development of synthetic methodology   and total   synthesis of   bioactive natural products

2011-2017	Postdoctoral  Fellow, Gladstone Institutes, University of California,  San Francisco, San   Francisco, USA Advisor: Prof.  Sheng Ding  Research areas: Synthesis  and discovery of   novel small molecules that control   cell fates and functions, and examining their therapeutic  potential in disease models
2017-present	Group leader, Guangzhou Institutes of  Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou, China Research areas: Discovery and  preclinical development of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of aging realted diseases, e.g., cancer, metabolic diseases, etc.

   

01. Tang S^#, Xie M^#, Cao N, Ding S*. Patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells for disease modeling and phenotypic drug discovery. J Med Chem. 2016 Jan 14; 59(1):2-15. 

02. Nakamura PA, Tang S, Shimchuk AA, Ding S, Reh TA*. Potential of small molecule-mediated reprogramming of rod photoreceptors to treat retinitis pigmentosa. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016 Nov 1; 57(14):6407-6415.

03. Nakamura PA, Shimchuk AA, Tang S, Wang Z, Degolier K, Ding S, Reh TA*. Small molecule Photoregulin3 prevents retinal degeneration in the Rho^P23H mouse model of Retinitis Pigmentosa. eLife 2017 Nov 17; 6: e30577.

04. Mohamed TMA, Stone NR, Berry EC, Radzinsky E, Huang Y, Pratt K, Ang Y, Yu P, Wang H, Tang S, Magnitsky S, Ding S, Ivey KN, Srivastava D*. Chemical enhancement of in vitro and in vivo direct cardiac reprogramming. Circulation. 2017 Mar 7; 135(10):978-995.

05. Xie M^#, Tang S^#, Li K, Ding S*. Pharmacological reprogramming of somatic cells for regenerative medicine. Acc Chem Res. 2017 May 16; 50(5):1202-1211.

06. Yang B^#, Tang S^#, Ma C^#, Li ST, Kobayashi T, Hoppmann C, Dang B, DeGrado WF, Dong MQ, Wang PG, Ding S, Wang L*. Spontaneous and specific chemical cross-linking in live cells to capture and identify protein interactions. Nat Commun. 2017 Dec 21;8(1):2240. 

07. Hou L^#, Yang G^#, Tang S^#, Alcazar C, Joshi P, Strassberg Z, Kim M, Kawamura M, Woo YJ, Shrager J, Ding S, Huang NF*. A small molecule derived from carboxyethylpyrrole protein adducts promotes angiogenesis in a mouse model of peripheral arterial disease. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 Sep 18;7(18):e009234.

08. Qin Y^#, Tang S^#, Zhen G, Ding Q, Ding S*, Cao X*. Bone-targeted delivery of TGF-β type 1 receptor inhibitor rescues uncoupled bone remodeling in Camurati-Engelmann disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 Dec; 1433(1):29-40.

09. Zhao S^#, Chu Y^#, Zhang Y^#, Zhou Y, Jiang Z, Wang Z, Mao L, Li K, Sun W, Li P, Jia S, Wang C, Xu A, Loomes K, Tang S, Wu D, Hui X*, Nie T*. Linifanib exerts dual anti-obesity effect by regulating adipocyte browning and formation. Life Sci. 2019 Apr 1;222:117-124.

 10. Tan J^#, Liu H^#, Huang M, Li N, Tang S, Meng J, Tang S, Zhou H, Kijlstra A, Yang P, Hou S*. Small molecules targeting RORγt inhibit autoimmune disease by suppressing Th17 cell differentiation. Cell Death Dis. 2020 Aug 22;11(8):697.

11. Liu X^#, Zhang Y^#, Chu Y, Zhao X, Mao L, Zhao S, Lin S, Hui X, Gu P, Xu Y, Loomes K, Tang S^*, Nie T^*, Wu D^*. The natural compound rutaecarpine promotes white adipocyte browning through activation of the AMPK-PRDM16 axis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2021;545:189-194.

12. Shi R, Shi X, Qin D, Tang S, Vermeulen M, Zhang X*. SNX27-driven membrane localisation of OTULIN antagonises linear ubiquitination and NF-κB signalling activation. Cell Biosci. 2021 Jul 27;11(1):146.

 13. Wu T^#, Li ST^#, Ran Y^#, Lin Y, Liu L, Zhang X, Zhou L, Zhang L, Wu D, Yang B^*, Tang S^*. Mapping protein direct interactome of oxidoreductases with small molecular chemical cross-linkers in live cells. Redox Biol. 2023 May;61:102642.

14. Tian J, Lin Y, Han J^*, Tang S*. Practical synthesis of epocholeone, a plant growth-promoting steroid with long-lasting activity. Tetrahedron lett. 2024 Apr 28;140: 155024. 

15. Zhu C, Liu J, Ni Y, Chen W, Rong W, Zhang X, Guo C, Kong X*, Tang S*. Synthesis of STM2457, a selective small-molecule inhibitor of METTL3. Tetrahedron lett. 2024 May 17;141: 155077. 

16. Xu Y^#, Liu J^#, Li G, Wu H, Du X, Ma T, Liu D, Tang S*. Efficient synthesis of 1-Azakenpaullone, a selective inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3β for cellular regeneration. New J Chem. 2024 Jun 18;48:12081-12085. 

17. Liu DD^#, Ding W^#, Cheng JT^#, Wei Q^#, Lin Y, Zhu TY, Tian J, Sun K, Zhang L, Lu P, Yang F, Liu C*, Tang S*, Yang B*. Characterize direct protein interactions with enrichable, cleavable and latent bioreactive unnatural amino acids. Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 18;15(1):5221. 

18. Li G, Chen W, Liu D*, Tang S*. Recent advances in medicinal chemistry strategies for the development of METTL3 inhibitors. Eur J Med Chem. 2025 Mar 22;290:117560. 

19. Wu T^#, Zhou HX^#, Tian J^#, Zhou R^#, Huangfu S, Jin BK, Sablina A, Zhou F, Chen H*, Tang S*, Zhang L*, Yang B*. Enrichable cross-linkers for mapping direct protein interactions. Genome Biol. 2025 Jul 15;26(1):205.

20. Wang D^#, Li^# G, Liu^# J, Li M, Peng X, Deng J, Zhao S, Zou K, Zhang X, Liu D, Tortorella MD*, Wu L*, Tang S*. Discovery and optimization of 4-aminopteridin-7(8H)-one derivatives as potent and selective mTOR inhibitors with favorable pharmacodynamic and safety characteristics. J Med Chem. 2026 Feb 26;69(4):4829-4854.

3. 一种小分子化学交联剂及其制备方法和应用, Application number: 202310163905X, Application date: 2023/02/24, Inventors: TANG Shibing; YANG Bing; WU Ting, Application country: China.

2. DNMT1 inhibitors, pharmaceutical compositions, and therapeutic applications, Application number: PCT/CN2023/073678, Application date: 2023/01/29, Inventors: TANG Shibing; KONG Xiangqian; LUO Cheng; ZHAO Kehao; LI Zhihai, Application country: PCT patent.

1. Photoreceptor gene modulator photoregulin 3 for treatment of retinal disease, Application number: PCT/US2018/046272 (WO2019032999), Application date: 2018/08/10, Inventors: REH Thomas A.; NAKAMURA Paul; SHIMCHUK Andy; TANG Shibing; DING Sheng, Application country: PCT patent.

Medicinal chemistry, Drug discovery, Chemical biology, Regenerative medicine.