Shuguang Zhang is an American biochemist. He is a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab's Laboratory for Molecular Architecture. Shuguang Zhang's research focuses on designs of biological molecules, particularly proteins and peptides. He has published over 160 scientific papers, which have cumulatively been cited over 31,000 times with an h-index of 85.
Zhang is the widely acknowledged founder of the field of self-assembling peptides, which stems from a discovery he made in 1990. He discovered the first Z-DNA binding protein, which he named Zuotin. In sequencing the Zuo gene, and the subsequent analysis of its Zuotin protein sequence, he noticed a remarkable alternating sequence where every other amino acid is hydrophobic alanine and positively charged lysine or negatively charged glutamic acid with the sequence n-AEAEAKAKAEAEAKAK-c, the discovery of the first self-assembling peptides. Zhang contributed decisevely to a method termed the QTY Code. In 2019, Zhang and his team successfully designed proteins which can stop cytokine storms. This discovery is directly relevant to the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Zhang is the founder of the biopharmaceutical companies and OH2 Laboratories. He served on the board of scientific advisors for Acorda Therapeutics. He serves on the editorial board of PLoS One and on the advisory board for World Scientific Book Series: Series in Structural Biology. Shuguang Zhang discovered a group of peptides that spontaneously spontaneously organize into aggregates and networks under physiological conditions. He received numerous recognitions and awards for this discovery. Zhang is also a consultant to numerous companies worldwide. His company 3-D Matrix developed numerous products for tissue regeneration, wound healing and nerve regeneration. Shuguang Zhang founded another company NZ3 to utilize lipid-like peptide nanostructures, which was acquired by 3-D Matrix.
Wang, A. H.; Quigley, G. J.; Kolpak, F. J.; Crawford, J. L.; van Boom, J. H.; van der Marel, G.; Rich, A.. "Molecular structure of a left-handed double helical DNA fragment at atomic resolution". Nature. 282 :680-686. Bibcode: 1979 Natur.282..680W.
Zhang, S., Lockshin, C., Herbert, A., Winter, E. & Rich, A. "Zuotin, a putative Z-DNA binding protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae." EMBO. J, 11, 3787–3796.
Zhang, S. et al.. "Spontaneous assembly of a self-complementary oligopeptide to form a stable macroscopic membrane." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 3334–3338.
