Address	(Office): Rm 609, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK (Lab): Rm 610, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK
Phone	(Office): (852) 3943 1298 (Lab): (852) 3943 2304
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Web	https://sites.google.com/view/stephenchenlab/home

Education

Positions

• 2025 – present Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong KongSchool of Life Sciences
• 2021 – 2024 Research Associate, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 2019 – 2020 Postdoctoral Fellow, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford
• 2017 – 2018 Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Research Interests

• Neurobiology of primary cilium
• Pathogenic mechanisms of human neurological diseases
• Human stem cells and their neuronal derivatives

Representative Publications

Full publication list: ORCID 0000-0002-9276-0378

1. Chen, Z.S., Ou, M., Taylor, S., Dafinca, R., Peng, S.I., Talbot, K. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2023) Mutant GGGGCC RNA prevents YY1 from binding to Fuzzy promoter which stimulates Wnt/β-catenin pathway in C9ALS/FTD. Nat. Commun. 14(1), 8420.
2. Chen, Z.S., Yan, M., Pei, W., Yan, B., Huang, C. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2022) Lignin-carbohydrate complexes suppress SCA3 neurodegeneration via upregulating proteasomal activities. Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 218, 690-705.
3. An, Y., Chen, Z.S., Chan, H.Y.E. and Ngo, J.C.K. (2022) Molecular insights into the interaction of CAG trinucleotide RNA repeats with nucleolin and its implication in polyglutamine diseases. Nucleic Acids Res. 50(13), 7655-7668.
4. Chen, Z.S., Huang, X., Talbot, K. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2021) A fine balance between Prpf19 and Exoc7 in achieving degradation of aggregated protein and suppression of cell death in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. Cell Death Dis. 12(2), 136.
5. Peng, S., Guo, P., Lin, X., An, Y., Sze, K.H., Lau, M.H.Y., Chen, Z.S., Wang, Q., Li, W., Sun, J.K.L., Ma, S.Y., Chan, T.F., Lau, K.F., Ngo, J.C.K., Kwan, K.M., Wong, C.H., Lam, S.L., Zimmerman, S.C., Tuccinardi, T., Zuo, Z., Au-Yeung, H.Y., Chow, H.M. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2021) CAG RNAs induce DNA damage and apoptosis by silencing NUDT16 expression in polyglutamine degeneration. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 118(19), e2022940118.
6. Pei, W.*, Chen, Z.S.*, Chan, H.Y.E., Zheng, L., Liang, C. and Huang, C. (2020) Isolation and identification of a novel anti-protein aggregation activity of lignin-carbohydrate complex from Chionanthus retusus leaves. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 8, 573991.
7. Chen, Z.S.*, Wong, A.K.Y.*, Cheng, T.C., Koon, A.C. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2019) FipoQ/FBXO33, a Cullin-1-based ubiquitin ligase complex component modulates ubiquitination and solubility of polyglutamine disease protein. J. Neurochem. 149(6), 781-798. (Featured on the cover of the issue)
8. Hong, H.*, Koon, A.C.*, Chen, Z.S.*, Wei, Y., An, Y., Li, W., Lau, M.H.Y., Lau, K.F., Ngo, J.C.K., Wong, C.H., Au-Yeung, H.Y., Zimmerman, S.C. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2019) AQAMAN, a bisamidine-based inhibitor of toxic protein inclusions in neurons, ameliorates cytotoxicity in polyglutamine disease models. J. Biol. Chem. 294(8), 2757-2770. (Featured on the cover of the issue)
9. Chen, Z.S., Li, L., Peng, S., Chen, F.M., Zhang, Q., An, Y., Lin, X., Li, W., Koon, A.C., Chan, T.F., Lau, K.F., Ngo, J.C.K., Wong, W.T., Kwan, K.M. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2018) Planar cell polarity gene Fuz triggers apoptosis in neurodegenerative disease models. EMBO Rep. 19(9), e45409.
10. Koon, A.C., Chen, Z.S., Peng, S., Fung, J.M.S., Zhang, X., Lembke, K.M., Chow, H.K., Frank, C.A., Jiang, L., Lau, K.F. and Chan, H.Y.E. (2018) Drosophila Exo70 is essential for neurite extension and survival under thermal stress. J. Neurosci. 38(37), 8071-8086.

Patents

• Chen, Z.S.; Chan, H.Y.E.; Peng, S.I. miRNA dysregulation correction as a strategy to treat Huntington’s disease. WIPO Patent PCT/IB2023/000721, May 23, 2024.
• Zhou, X.; Chen, Z.; Yang, B.; Lin, X.; Liu, J.; Liu, Y. Sea moth extract as well as preparation method thereof and application thereof. China Patent CN102973606A, March 20, 2013.

Awards

• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neurosciences, CUHK and University of Oxford

Professional Activities

• 2019 – present Review Editor for Neurodegeneration, Frontiers in Neuroscience
• 2019 External Reviewer for National Research Agency, France
• 2018 Discussion Leader, Gordon Research Seminar for Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology
• 2015 Organizing Committee Member, Hong Kong Inter-University Postgraduate Symposium on Life Sciences