Cheng Heping, Ph.D.

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professor, College of Future Technology, Peking University

Director, National Biomedical Imaging Center, Peking University

Chief Scientist, China Multimodality and Trans-scale Biomedical Imaging Facility

Biography

Dr. Heping (Peace) Cheng received his bachelor and master degrees in fluid dynamics and biomedical engineering, with physiology as his minor, from Peking University, China. Upon graduation, he served as a junior faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the same university before earning his Ph.D. degree in physiology in 1995 from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. He then joined the NIH Intramural Research Program as a senior staff fellow, was selected as a tenure-track investigator in 1998 and became the head of the Ca²⁺ Signaling Section in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, National Institute of Aging, NIH. He was promoted to senior investigator in 2004. He is now heading the Laboratory of Ca²⁺ Signaling and Mitochondrial Biomedicine in College of Future Technology at Peking University. He was elected to the Chinese National Academy of Sciences in 2013.

Co-discovering Ca²⁺ sparks in 1993 and mitochondrial flashes in 2008, he strives to resolve elemental physiological signals in the pursuit of principles of cell signaling. Currently he is engaged in developing novel imaging technology for reverse engineering of brain information processing.

Courses

Undergraduate Courses:

Integrated Experimental Course

Graduate Student Courses:

Frontier Research in Mitochondrial Biomedicine and Ca²⁺ signaling

Selected Topics in Physiology

Education

1980.9 – 1984.7 B.S., Dept. of Mechanics, Peking University, Beijing, China

Major: Applied mathematics and fluid dynamics

1984.9 - 1987.7 2nd B.S., Dept. of Biology, Peking University, Beijing, China

Major: Physiology

1984.9 - 1987.7 M.S., Dept. of Mechanics, Peking University, Beijing, China

Major: Bioengineering

1989.9 - 1990.7 Ph.D. student, Univ. of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1990.8 - 1995.4 Ph.D., Dept. of Physiology, School of Medicine, Univ. of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201

Major: Physiology

Experience

1987.7 -1989.7  Instructor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Peking University, China

1995.4-1995.8  Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Physiology, School of Medicine, Univ. of Maryland at Baltimore

1995.8-1998.6  Senior Staff Fellow, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, NIA, NIH

1998.6-2004.11  Investigator, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, NIA, NIH

2004.11-2006.1  Senior Investigator with tenure, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, NIA, NIH

2006.1-present  Professor, Laboratory of Calcium Signaling and Mitochondrial Biomedicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking University

2020.12-present Director, National Biomedical lmaging Center, Peking University

Projects

n Since 2018, Chief Scientist, China Multimodality and Trans-scale Biomedical Imaging Facility

n Since 2019, Project Leader, Peking University-Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Joint Innovation Program

n 2019.01 -2021.12, Project Leader, NSFC, Calcium Signaling Team of Innovation (Ⅲ)

n 2016.01 -2018.12, Project Leader, NSFC, Calcium Signaling Team of Innovation (Ⅱ)

n 2016.01-2021.12, Principal Investigator, NSFC, The Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondria Coupling and Its Role in Energy Metabolism

n 2014.01-2018.12, Chief Scientist, NSFC, High Space-time Resolution Miniature Two-photon Microscope for In Vivo Imaging

n 2013.01 -2015.12, Project Leader, NSFC, Calcium Signaling Team of Innovation (I)

n 2013.01-2017.08, Chief Scientist, MOST, Role and Mechanism of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Early Pathogenesis of Heart Failure

n 2012.01-2016.12, Principal Investigator, NSFC, Mechanisms and Functions of Mitochondrial Superoxide Flashes

n 2011.01-2015.08, Principal Investigator, MOST, Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Cell Signaling

n 2007.01-2010.12, Principal Investigator, MOST, Mechanism and Regulation of Cellular Calcium Signals

n 2007.01-2011.08, Chief Scientist, MOST, Molecular Mechanisms and Early Intervention Strategies of Major Heart Diseases

Representative publications

1. W Zong, R Wu*, S Chen, J Wu, H Wang, Z Zhao, G Chen, R Tu, D Wu, Y Hu, Y Xu, Y Wang, Z Duan, H Wu, Y Zhang, J Zhang, A Wang*, L Chen*, H Cheng. Miniature two-photon microscopy for enlarged field-of-view, multi-plane, and long-term brain imaging, Nature Methods, 2021, 18(1): 46-49.

2. D Wu, W Qi, W Nie, Z Lu, Y Ye, J Li, T Sun, Y Zhu, H Cheng*, X Wang*. BacFlash signals acid-resistance gene expression in bacteria, Cell Research, 2021,31(6):703-712.

3. F Lu*, Y Zhao, W Xie, Q Guo, S Wang, X Wang, H Cheng*. Imaging sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ signaling in intact cardiac myocytes, Circulation, 2020, 142(15): 1503-1505.

4. Y Yue, W Zong, X Li, J Li, Y Zhang, R Wu, YLiu, J Cui, Q Wang, Y Bian, X Yu, Y Liu, G Tan, Y Zhang, G Zhao, B Zhou, L Chen, W Xiao*, H Cheng*, A He*. Long-term, in toto live imaging of cardiomyocyte behaviour during mouse ventricle chamber formation at single-cell resolution, Nature Cell Biology, 2020, 22(3): 332-340.

5. Y Lin, L Li, W Nie, X Liu, A Adler, C Xiao, F Lu, L Wang, H Han, X Wang, W-B Gan*, H Cheng*. Brain activity regulates loose coupling between mitochondrial and cytosolic Ca²⁺ transients. Nature Communications, 2019, 10(1): 5277.

6. T Hou, R Zhang, C Jian, W Ding, Y Wang, S Ling, Q Ma, X Hu, H Cheng*, X Wang*. NDUFAB1 confers cardio-protection by enhancing mitochondrial bioenergetics through coordination of respiratory complex and supercomplex assembly, Cell Research, 2019, 29(9):754-766.

7. X Wang*, X Zhang, D Wu, Z Huang, T Hou, C Jian, P Yu, F Lu, R Zhang, T Sun, J Li, W Qi, Y Wang, F Gao*, H Cheng. Mitochondrial flashes regulate ATP homeostasis in the heart, eLife, 2017, 6: e23908.

8. W Zong, R Wu, M Li, Y Hu, Y Li, J Li, H Rong, H Wu, Y Xu, Y Lu, H Jia, M Fan, Z Zhou, Y Zhang*, A Wang*, L Chen*, H Cheng. Fast high-resolution miniature two-photon microscopy for brain imaging in freely behaving mice, Nature Methods, 2017, 14 (7): 713-719.

9. Z Fu, X Tan, H Fang, P-M Lau, X Wang*, H Cheng*, G Bi*. Dendritic mitoflash as a putative signal for stabilizing long-term synaptic plasticity, Nature Communications, 2017, 8(1): 31.

10. XH Wang*, X Zhang, ZL Huang, D Wu, BB Liu, RF Zhang, RK Yin, TT Hou, CS Jian, JJ Xu, Y Zhao, YR Wang, F Gao, H Cheng*. Protons trigger mitochondrial flashes. Biophysical Journal, 2016, 111 (2): 386-394.

11. W Shang, F Lu, T Sun, J Xu, L-L Li, Y Wang, G Wang, L Chen, X Wang, M B Cannell, S-Q Wang*, H Cheng*. Imaging Ca²⁺ nanosparks in heart with a new targeted biosensor, Circulation Research, 2014, 114(3): 412-420.

12. E-Z Shen, C-Q Song, Y Lin, W-H Zhang, P-F Su, W-Y Liu, P Zhang, J Xu, N Lin, C Zhan, X Wang, Y Shyr, H Cheng*, M-Q Dong*. Mitoflash frequency in early adulthood predicts lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans, Nature, 2014, 508(7494): 128-132.

13. C Wei*, X Wang, M Chen, K Ouyang, L-S Song, H Cheng*. Calcium flickers steer cell migration, Nature, 2009, 457(7231): 901-905.

14. W Wang*, H Fang, L Groom, A Cheng, W Zhang, J Liu, X Wang, K Li, P Han, M Zheng, J Yin, W Wang, M P Mattson, J P Y Kao, E G Lakatta, S-S Sheu, K Ouyang, J Chen, R T Dirksen, H Cheng*. Superoxide flashes in single mitochondria, Cell, 2008, 134(2): 279-290.

15. H Cheng*, W J Lederer. Calcium sparks, Physiological Reviews, 2008, 88(4): 1491-1545.

16. D X P Brochet , D Yang*, A D Maio, W J Lederer, C Franzini-Armstrong, H Cheng*. Ca²⁺ blinks: rapid nanoscopic store calcium signaling, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2005, 102(8): 3099-3104.

17. S Wang, L Song, E G Lakatta, H Cheng*. Ca²⁺ signalling between single L-type Ca²⁺ channels and ryanodine receptors in heart cells, Nature, 2001, 410(6828): 592-596.

18. M G Klein, H Cheng*, L F Santana, Y Jiang, W J Lederer, M F Schneider. Two mechanisms of quantized calcium release in skeletal muscle, Nature, 1996, 379(6564): 455-458.

19. H Cheng, M Fill, H H Valdivia, W J Lederer. Models of calcium release channel adaptation, Science, 1995, 267(5206): 2009-2010.

20. H Cheng, W J Lederer*, M B Cannell. Calcium sparks: Elementary events underlying excitation-contraction coupling in heart muscle, Science, 1993, 262(5134):740-744.