Fengfeng NIU

Research Associate professor |School of Life Sciences, Department of Neuroscience

Dr. Niu is currently the Research Associate Professor (RAP) at Department of Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, SUSTech. He received his Ph.D at Institute of Biophysics, CAS in 2015 and then moved to SUSTech for his post-doc and RAP fellow research. He mainly focuses on structural investigations and bio-functional studies on the biomacromolecules in human/pathogens by employing X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, biochemical and cellular assays. In the recent years, his main works are to uncover the complicated mechanisms of molecular motor-intracellular cargo trafficking.

Personal Profile

Professional Experience:

◆ 2023-current, School of Life Sciences, SUSTech, Research Associate Professor;

◆ 2019-2023, School of Life Sciences/Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies,  SUSTech, Research Assistant Professor;

◆ 2016-2019, Department of Biology, SUSTech, Postdoc Fellow.

Educational Background:

◆ 2009-2015, Institute of Biophysics, CAS  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Ph.D;

◆ 2005-2009, Nankai University, Bioscience, B.S.

Research

◆Structural biology;

◆Intracellular cargo trafficking.


Publications Read More

  1. Niu F*, Li L*, Wang L, Xiao J, Xu S, Liu Y, Lin L, Yu C#, Wei Z#. Autoinhibition and activation of myosin VI revealed by its cryo-EM structure. Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 8;15(1):1187. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45424-7. PMID: 38331992; PMCID: PMC10853514.
  2. Jia, X.*; Lin, L.*; Xu, S.; Li, L.; Wei, Z.; Yu, C.#; Niu, F.# Crystal Structure of the SH3 Domain of ASAP1 in Complex with the Proline Rich Motif (PRM) of MICAL1 Reveals a Unique SH3/PRM Interaction Mode. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 1414. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021414
  3. Niu, F.*#, Liu, Y.*, Sun, K.*, Xu, S., Dong, J., Yu, C., Yan, K., Wei, Z#. Autoinhibition and Activation Mechanisms Revealed by the Triangular-shaped Structure of Myosin Va. Science Advances. 2022 Dec 9;8(49):eadd4187. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add4187. Epub 2022 Dec 9. PMID: 36490350.
  4. Liu Y, Li L, Yu C, Zeng F, Niu F#, Wei Z.#. Cargo Recognition Mechanisms of Yeast Myo2 Revealed by AlphaFold2-Powered Protein Complex Prediction. Biomolecules. 2022 Jul 26;12(8):1032. doi: 10.3390/biom12081032. PMID: 35892342; PMCID: PMC9330073.
  5. Liang, M.*, Jin, G.*, Xie, X.*, Zhang, W., Li, K., Niu, F., Yu, C.#, Wei, Z.# Oligomerized liprin-α promotes phase separation of ELKS for compartmentalization of presynaptic active zone proteins. Cell Reports. 2021 Mar 23;34(12):108901. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108901. PMID: 33761347.
  6. Niu, F.*, Sun, K.*, Wei, W., Yu, C.#, Wei, Z#. F-actin disassembly factor MICAL1 binding to Myosin Va mediates cargo unloading during cytokinesis. Science Advances. 2020 Nov 6;6(45):eabb1307. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb1307. PMID: 33158857; PMCID: PMC7673715.
  7. Li, J. *, Rodriguez, J. P. *, Niu, F., Pu, M., Wang, J., Hung, L. W., … & Ouyang, S.#. Structural basis for DNA recognition by STAT6. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016, 113(46), 13015-13020.
  8. Burakova, L. P., Natashin, P. V., Malikova, N. P., Niu, F., Pu, M., Vysotski, E. S.#, & Liu, Z. J.# All Ca 2+-binding loops of light-sensitive ctenophore photoprotein berovin bind magnesium ions: The spatial structure of Mg2+-loaded apo-berovin. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 2016, 154, 57-66.
  9. Jiao, L.*, Ouyang, S.*, Shaw, N., Song, G., Feng, Y., Niu, F., … & Liu, Z. J.# Mechanism of the Rpn13-induced activation of Uch37. Protein & Cell, 2014, 1-15.
  10. Gu, J., Feng, Y., Feng, X., Sun, C., Lei, L., Ding, W., Niu, F., … & Han, W.# Structural and Biochemical Characterization Reveals LysGH15 as an Unprecedented “EF-Hand-Like” Calcium-Binding Phage Lysin. PLoS pathogens, 2014, 10(5), e1004109.
  11. Niu, F.*, Shaw, N*., Wang, Y. E.*, Jiao, L.*, Ding, W., Li, X., … & Liu, Z. J.# Structure of the Leanyer orthobunyavirus nucleoprotein–RNA complex reveals unique architecture for RNA encapsidation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013, 110(22), 9054-9059.
  12. Jiao, L.*, Ouyang, S.*, Liang, M.*, Niu, F.*, Shaw, N., Wu, W., … & Liu, Z. J.# Structure of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus nucleocapsid protein in complex with suramin reveals therapeutic potential. Journal of virology, 2013, 87(12), 6829-6839.
  13. Niu, F., Ru, H., Ding, W., Ouyang, S.#, & Liu, Z. J.#. Structural biology study of human TNF receptor associated factor 4 TRAF domain. Protein & cell, 2013, 4(9), 687-694.
  14. Ouyang, S.*, Song, X.*, Wang, Y.*, Ru, H.*, Shaw, N., Jiang, Y., Niu, F., … & Liu, Z. J.# Structural analysis of the STING adaptor protein reveals a hydrophobic dimer interface and mode of cyclic di-GMP binding. Immunity, 2012, 36(6), 1073-1086.

    (*first author, #corresponding author)

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