Associate Professor (with tenure)

Investigator, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences,

Peking University Boya Young Fellow

Biography

Dr. Zhixing Chen is a chemist with research experience spanning natural product synthesis, polymer mechano-chemistry, fluorescence and non-linear optical probes, bioconjugation, and live cell imaging. Zhixing believes in the enabling role of molecular technologies at the frontier of optical imaging, biotechnology, and life sciences. His current focus is to develop small and macro molecular tools for advanced imaging technologies. In the long term, Zhixing endeavors to unleash the synergy at the chemistry-biology-imaging interface in a collaborative manner, bringing new dimensions to the fields of molecular imaging and molecular medicine.

Courses

Recent advance in bioimaging probes (3 credits)

Frontiers in Chemical Biotechnology and Bioimaging (3 credits)

General Chemistry (UG, 2 credits)

Education

Ph.D. 2009-2014  Chemistry Department of Chemistry, Columbia University

B.S.  2004-2008  Chemical Biology Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University

Experience

2018- now  CLS Investigator, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University

Assistant Professor, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology, Peking University

2016-2018  Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University (Advisor: Professor Yan Xia)

2015  Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, Columbia University (Advisor: Professor Wei Min)

2008-2009  Research Assistant, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, PKU (Advisors: Professors Zhen Yang and Jiahua Chen)

Projects

Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission

National Natural Science Foundation of China (General Program)

Representative publications

1. Zhe Yang, Yu Zhang, Yuxin Fang, Yuan Zhang, Jiasheng Du, Xiaowen Shen, Kecheng Zhang, Peng Zou* & Zhixing Chen*. Spatial barcoding reveals reaction radii and contact-dependent mechanism of proximity labeling. Nature Chemical Biology 2025, online

2. Dilizhatai Saimi, Luc Reymond, Tursunjan Aziz, Xuan Shen, Ziying Luo, Shuaibo Pi, Yitong Liu, Song Fu, Shuangjin Ding, Anming Meng, Liangyi Chen, Hui Jiang & Zhixing Chen*. Imaging mitochondrial membrane potential via concentration-dependent fluorescence lifetime changes. Nature Communications 2025, 16, 11088

3. Jing Ling#, Yuan Zhang#*_, Yongzhen Hei#, Julian Kompa, Chen Yang, Bo Wang, Junwei Zhang, Jiasheng Du, Tatjana Rudi, Kecheng Zhang, Jingfu Sun, Wenjuan Wang, Sebastian Fabritz, Yulong Li, Wulan Deng, Peng Zou, Chunlai Chen*, Zhixing Chen*. Thioether editing generally increases thephotostability of rhodamine dyes on self-labeling tags, PNAS 2025, 122, e2426354122

4. Jing Ling#, Yitong Liu#, Alexandre Dumoulin#, Danli Sheng, Yunzhe Fu, Shuzhang Liu, Ling Ding, Lulu Huang, Peng Xi, Hongyun Tang, Esther T. Stoeckli, and Zhixing Chen; A gentle palette of plasma membrane dyes. PNAS 2025, 122, e2504879122

5. Junwei Zhang, Kecheng Zhang, Kui Wang, Bo Wang, Siyan Zhu, Hongping Qian, Yumiao Ma, Mengling Zhang, Tianyan Liu, Peng Chen, Yuan Shen, Yunzhe Fu, Shilin Fang, Xinxin Zhang, Peng Zou, Wulan Deng, Yu Mu, Zhixing Chen*. A Palette of Bridged Bicycle-Strengthened Fluorophores. Nature Methods 2025, 22，1276

6. Liu, T.#; Kompa, J.#; Ling, J.#; Lardon, N.; Zhang, Y.; Chen, J.; Reymond, L.; Chen, P.; Tran, M.; Yang, Z.; Zhang, H.; Liu, Y.; Pitsch, S.; Zou, P.; Wang, L.; Johnsson, K.; Chen, Z.* Gentle rhodamines for live-cell fluorescence microscopy. ACS Central Science 2024, 10, 1933-44.

7. Chen, J.; Stephan, T.; Gaedke, F.; Liu, T.; Li, Y. Schauss, A.; Chen, P.; Wulff, V.; Jakobs, S.; Jüngst, C.*; Chen, Z.* An aldehyde-crosslinking mitochondrial probe for STED imaging in fixed cells. PNAS 2024, 121, e2317703121.

8. Liu, S.#; Ling, J.#; et al.; Zou, P.*; Chen, Z.* Orange/far-red hybrid voltage indicators with reduced phototoxicity enable reliable long-term imaging in neurons and cardiomyocytes. PNAS 2023, 120, e2306950120.

9. Liu, T.^#; Stephan, T.^#; Chen, P.; Keller-Findeisen, J.; Chen, J.; Riedel, D.; Yang, Z.; Jakobs, S.; Chen, Z.* Multi-color live-cell STED nanoscopy of mitochondria with a gentle inner membrane stain. PNAS 2022, 119, e2215799119 [Cover]

10. Mo, J.^#; Chen, J.^#; Shi, Y.; Sun, J.; Wu, Y.; Liu, T.; Zhang, J.; Zheng, Y.; Li, Y.; Chen, Z.* Third-Generation Covalent TMP-Tag for Fast Labeling and Multiplexed Imaging of Cellular Proteins. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202207905

11. Zhang, J.^#; Peng, X.^#; Wu, Y.^#; Ren, H.^#; Sun, J.; Tong, S.; Liu, T.; Zhao, Y.; Wang, S.; Tang, C.; Chen, L.; Chen, Z.* Red- and Far-Red-Emitting Zinc Probes with Minimal Phototoxicity for Multiplexed Recording of Orchestrated Insulin Secretion. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 25846-55. [Inside Cover]

12. Yang, Z.^#; Li, L.^#; Ling, J.; Liu, T.; Huang, X.; Ying, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Lei, K.*; Chen, L.*; Chen, Z.* Cyclooctatetraene-conjugated cyanine mitochondrial probes minimize phototoxicity in fluorescence and nanoscopic imaging. Chemical Science 2020, 11, 8506-8516.