Research Interests

Our research interests lie broadly in organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, materials chemistry, chemical biology, drug delivery, and nanomedicine, with emphasis on the translation of polymer chemistry to functional nanomaterials designed for advanced disease treatment.  The central theme of my research program will involve the fundamental development of synthetic methodologies that allow for precise tuning of the chemical structures of both synthetic and biologic macromolecules, thereby modulating interactions between synthetic and biologic macromolecular constructs.  I aim to develop new polymeric materials to address unmet needs in human health and sustainability, while simultaneously educating the next generation of scientists.

PI's Research Experiences

1. Design and synthesis of functional polymers and their biomedical applications

• • • Biodegradable and biocompatible polyphosphoesters, polypeptides, polylactides, polycarbonates

    • pH-labile and redox-sensitive polymers for drug and gene delivery

    • Polymer-drug conjugates, polymer-drug complexion, physical drug loading

    • Combinational cancer therapy, including chemo-phototherapy and chemo-immunotherapy

Related publications:

• • 1. Ni,Q.;† Zhang, F.;† Liu, Y.; Wang, Z.; Yu, G.; Liang, B.; Niu, G.; Su, T.; Zhu, G.* Lu, G.;* Zhang, L.;* Chen, X.* “A bi-adjuvant nanovaccine that potentiates immunogenicity of neoantigen for combination immunotherapy of colorectal cancer”, Sci. Adv. 2020, 6, eaaw6071. (Equal contribution)

    2. Yang, W.;† Zhang, F.† Deng, H.; Lin, L.; Wang, S. Kang, F.; Yu, G.; Lau, J.; Tian, R.; Zhang, M.; Wang, Z.; He, L.; Ma, Y.; Niu, G.; Hu, S.;* Chen, X.,* “Smart nanovesicle mediated immunogenic cell death through tumor microenvironment modulation for effective photodynamic immunotherapy”, ACS Nano 2020, 14, 620. (Equal contribution)

    3. Chen, Q.;† Shah, K. N.;† Zhang, F.;† Salazar, A. J.; Shah, P. N.; Li, R.; Sacchettini, J. C.;* Wooley, K. L.;* Cannon, C. L.,* “Minocycline and silver dual-loaded polyphosphoester-based nanoparticles for treatment of resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa”, Molecular Pharmaceutics 2019, 16, 1606. (Equal contribution) 

    4. Ni, Q.;† Zhang, F.;† Zhang, Y.;† Zhu, G.;* Wang, Z.; Teng, Z.; Wang, C.; Yung, B. C.; Niu, G.; Lu, G.; Zhang, L.;* Chen, X.,* “In situ shRNA synthesis on DNA–polylactide nanoparticles to treat multidrug resistant breast cancer”, Advanced Materials 2018, 30, 1705737. (Equal contribution) 

    5. Zhang, F.; Khan, S.; Li, R.; Smolen, J. A.; Zhang, S.; Zhu, G.; Su, L.; Jahnke, A. A.; Elsabahy, M.; Chen, X.; Wooley, K. L.,* “Design and development of multifunctional polyphosphoester-based nanoparticles for ultrahigh paclitaxel dual loading”, Nanoscale 2017, 9, 15773. 

    6. Elzeny, H.;† Zhang, F.;† Ali, E. N.; Fathi, H. A.; Zhang, S.; Li, R.; El-Mokhtar, M. A.; Hamad, H. A.; Wooley, K. L.,* Elsabahy, M.,* “Polyphosphoester nanoparticles as biodegradable platform for delivery of multiple drugs and siRNA”, Drug Design, Development and Therapy 2017, 11, 483. (Equal contribution) 

    7. Fan, J.; Song, J.; Liu, Y.; Yu, G.; Ma, Y.; Deng, Y.; He, N.* Zhang, F.,* “Synthesis of biocompatible polymeric nanomaterial dually loaded with paclitaxel and nitric oxide for anti-MDR cancer therapy”, RSC Advances 2016, 6, 105871. (Corresponding author) 

    8. Zhang, F.; Zhang, S.; Pollack, S. F.; Li, R.; Gonzalez, A. M.; Fan, J.; Zou, J.; Leininger, S. E.; Pavía-Sanders, A.; Johnson, R.; Nelson, L. D.; Raymond, J. E.; Elsabahy, M.; Hughes, D. M. P.; Lenox, M. W.; Gustafson, T. P.;* Wooley, K. L.,* “Improving paclitaxel delivery: in vitro and in vivo characterization of PEGylated polyphosphoester-based nanocarriers”, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2015, 137, 2056. 

    9. Zhang, F.; Smolen, J. A.; Zhang, S.; Li, R.; Shah, P. N.; Cho, S.; Wang, H.; Raymond, J. E.; Cannon, C. L.;* Wooley, K. L.,* “Degradable polyphosphoester-based silver-loaded nanoparticles as therapeutics for bacterial lung infections”, Nanoscale 2015, 7, 2265. 

    10. Zhang, F.; Elsabahy, M.;* Zhang, S.; Lin, L. Y.; Zou, J.; Wooley, K. L.,* “Shell crosslinked knedel-like nanoparticles for delivery of cisplatin: effects of crosslinking”, Nanoscale 2013, 5, 3220. 

2. Small molecular prodrug for drug delivery

• • • Drug amphiphiles, including Camptothecin, Doxorubicin, MMAE, Mertansine, and Evans Blue based amphiphilic prodrugs

    • Multimeric prodrugs, including homodimeric prodrugs and heterodimeric prodrugs

Related publications:

• • 1. Zhang, F.;† Ni, Q.;† Jacobson, O.; Cheng, S.; Liao, A.; Wang, Z.; He, Z.; Yu, G.; Song, J.; Ma, Y.; Niu, G.; Zhang, L.;* Zhu, G.;* Chen, X.*, “Polymeric nanoparticles with glutathione-sensitive heterodimeric multifunctional prodrug for in vivo drug monitoring and synergistic cancer therapy”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2018, 57, 7066. (Equal contribution)  

    2. Yu, F.;† Zhang, F.;† Tang, L.;† Ma, J.; Ling, D.; Chen, X.;* Sun, X.,* “Redox-responsive dual chemophotothermal therapeutic nanomedicine for imaging-guided combinational therapy”, Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2018, 6, 5362. (Equal contribution) 

    3. Zhang, F.; Zhu, G.;* Jacobson, O.; Liu, Y.; Chen, K.; Yu, G.; Ni, Q.; Fan, J.; Yang, Z.; Xu. F.; Fu, X.; Wang, Z.; Ma, Y.; Niu, G.; Zhao, X.; Chen, X.,* “Transformative nanomedicine of an amphiphilic camptothecin prodrug for long circulation and high tumor uptake in cancer therapy”, ACS Nano 2017, 11, 8838. 

3. Theranostic nanomaterials with imaging and therapeutic functions

• • • Imaging modalities including Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, NIR fluorescent imaging, or photoacoustic imaging

    • Therapeutic methods including chemotherapy, phototherapy, or immunotherapy

Related publications:

• • 1. Chen, Q.;† Shah, K. N.;† Zhang, F.;† Salazar, A. J.; Shah, P. N.; Li, R.; Sacchettini, J. C.;* Wooley, K. L.;* Cannon, C. L.,* “Minocycline and silver dual-loaded polyphosphoester-based nanoparticles for treatment of resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa”, Molecular Pharmaceutics 2019, 16, 1606. (Equal contribution) 

    2. Yu, F.;† Zhang, F.;† Tang, L.;† Ma, J.; Ling, D.; Chen, X.;* Sun, X.,* “Redox-responsive dual chemophotothermal therapeutic nanomedicine for imaging-guided combinational therapy”, Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2018, 6, 5362. (Equal contribution) 

    3. Zhu, G.; Mei, L.;Vishwasrao, H.; Jacobson, O.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Z.; Yung, B.; Fu, X.; Jin, A.; Niu, G.; Wang, Q.; Zhang, F.;* Shroff, H.; Chen, X.,* “Intertwining DNA-RNA nanocapsules loaded with tumor neoantigens as synergistic nanovaccines for cancer immunotherapy”, Nature Communications 2017, 8, 1482. (Corresponding author) 

    4. Tang, L.;† Zhang, F.;† Yu, F.; Sun, W.; Song, M.; Chen, X.; Zhang, X.;* Sun, X.,* “Croconaine nanoparticles with enhanced tumor accumulation for multimodality cancer theranostics”, Biomaterials 2017, 129, 28-36. (Equal contribution) 

    5. Zhang, F.; Zhang, S.; Pollack, S. F.; Li, R.; Gonzalez, A. M.; Fan, J.; Zou, J.; Leininger, S. E.; Pavía-Sanders, A.; Johnson, R.; Nelson, L. D.; Raymond, J. E.; Elsabahy, M.; Hughes, D. M. P.; Lenox, M. W.; Gustafson, T. P.;* Wooley, K. L.,* “Improving paclitaxel delivery: in vitro and in vivo characterization of PEGylated polyphosphoester-based nanocarriers”, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2015, 137, 2056.