Mengxi Zheng

  • Assistant Professor

Tags:

  1. Home
  2. Office and Department Directory
  3. Directory
  4. Mengxi Zheng

Education

Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University (2022) 

B.S. in Chemistry from Nanjing University (2016) 

Research Interests

Our lab focuses on engineering programmable DNA and RNA nanostructures to advance molecular sensing and diagnostic technologies. We aim to develop strategies for real-time detection of biomolecules and non-invasive approaches for early disease diagnosis, with the long-term goal of creating versatile nucleic acid–based platforms for biomedical applications.
To achieve this, we combine nucleic acid nanotechnology, biomolecular engineering, and computational modeling. This integrated strategy allows us to design and evaluate dynamic nucleic acid architectures, probe their stability and responsiveness, and translate these insights into smart biosensors and functional nanodevices.

Publications

  • Saurabh Umrao, Mengxi Zheng, Xiaohe Jin, Sherwood Yao, Xing Wang. Net-Shaped DNA Nanostructure-Based Lateral Flow Assays for Rapid and Sensitive SARS-CoV-2 Detection. Anal. Chem. 2023, 96, 3291-3299.
  • Mengxi Zheng‡, Zhe Li‡, Cuizheng Zhang, Nadrian C. Seeman, Chengde Mao. Powering ≈50 μM Motion by a Molecular Event in DNA crystals. Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, 2200441.
  • Cuizheng Zhang‡, Mengxi Zheng‡, Yoel Ohayon, Simon Vecchioni, Ruojie Sha, Nadrian Seeman, Natasha Jonoska, Chengde Mao. Programming DNA Self-Assembly by Geometry, Not Sequence. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 8741-8745.
  • Xiaoli Hu‡, Linlin Tang‡, Mengxi Zheng‡, Jian Liu, Zhe Zhang, Zhe Li, Quan Yang, Shoubo Xiang, Liang Fang, Qiao Ren, Xuemei Liu, Chengzhi Huang, Chengde Mao, Hua Zuo. Structure-Guided Designing Pre-Organization in Bivalent Aptamers. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 4507-4514.
  • Mengxi Zheng, Zhe Li, Longfei Liu, Mo Li, Victoria E. Paluzzi, Jong Hyun Choi, Chengde Mao. Kinetic DNA Self-Assembly: Simultaneously Co-folding Complementary DNA Strands into Identical Nanostructures. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 20363–20367.
  • Zhe Li, Mengxi Zheng, Longfei Liu, Nadrian C. Seeman, Chengde Mao. 5′-Phosphorylation Strengthens Sticky-End Cohesions. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 14987-14991.
  • Mengxi Zheng, Qian Li, Qian Li, Victoria E. Paluzzi, Jong Hyun Choi, Chengde Mao. Engineering the Nanoscaled Morphologies of Linear DNA Homopolymers. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2021, 2100217.
  • Longfei Liu, Mengxi Zheng, Zhe Li, Qian Li, Chengde Mao. Patterning Nanoparticles with DNA Molds. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 13853–13858.
  • Mo Li‡, Mengxi Zheng‡, Siyu Wu, Cheng Tian, Di Liu, Yossi Weizmann, Wen Jiang, Guansong Wang, Chengde Mao. In vivo production of RNA nanostructures via programmed folding of single-stranded RNAs. Nat. Commun. 2018, 9, 2196.

(‡ contributed equally)