2024-01-08T11:59:14+08:002023-10-25|
Contact Information
Title
Assistant Professor
Office
(Office) E12-2008
Phone
(Office) +853 8822 4352
Email
chengaf@um.edu.mo
Consultation Hours

Tue 11:00 – 12:00, Wed 11:00 – 12:00

Teaching
Education
PhD Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China (2018)
BSc Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China (2013)
Position
10/2023 – Present Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau
07/2020 – 09/2023 Research Assistant Professor, Department of Ocean Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
07/2019 – 07/2020 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ocean Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
08/2018 – 07/2019 Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Research Interests
  1. Pathogenesis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
  2. Neuroprotective Lead Compounds Discovery and Drug Repurposing
Representative Publications
  1. Aifang Cheng, Teng Zhao, Kai-Hei Tse, Hei-Man Chow, Yong Cui, Liwen Jiang, Shengwang Du, Michael M.T. Loy, Karl Herrup, ATM and ATR play complementary roles in synaptic vesicle trafficking, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115 (2): E292-E301, 2018.
  2. Aifang Cheng, Kai-Hei Tse, Hei-Man Chow, Yunqiao Gan, Xuan Song, Fulin Ma, Yi-Xuan Yvonne Qian, Weiyi She, Karl Herrup, ATM loss disrupts autophagy-lysosome pathway, Autophagy, 17(8): 1998-2010, 2021.
  3. Aifang Cheng*, Changdong Liu*, Wenkang Ye*, Duli Huang, Weiyi She, Xin Liu, Chun P. FUNG, Naining XU, Monica C. SUEN, Wei YE, Herman H. Y. SUNG, Ian D. WILLIAMS, Guang ZHU, Pei-Yuan QIAN, Selective C9orf72 G-quadruplex binding small molecules ameliorate pathological signatures of ALS/FTD models, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 65(19): 12825-12837, 2022. [Cover] (*co-first author)
  4. Aifang Cheng*, Yan Zhang*, Jin Sun, Duli Huang, Jordy Evan Sulaiman, Long Wu, Wen-Kang Ye, Chuan-Hai Wu, Herry Lam, Yusheng Shi, and Pei-Yuan Qian, Pterosin sesquiterpenoids isolated from Pteris laeta Wall. protect cells from glutamate excitotoxicity by modulating mitochondrial signals, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 308: 116308, 2023. (*co-first author)
  5. Weiyi She*, Aifang Cheng*,#, Wenkang Ye, Ping Zeng, Hao Wang, Pei-Yuan Qian#, Mode of action of antimicrobial agents albofungins in eradicating penicillin- and cephalosporin-resistant Vibrio parahaemolyticus biofilm, Microbiology Spectrum, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01563-23, 2023. (*co-first author, #co-corresponding author)
  6. Weiyi She, Hao Wang, Darwin Linardi, Sin Yu Chik, Yi Lan, Feng Chen, Aifang Cheng#, Pei-Yuan Qian#, Mode of action of antifouling compound albofungin in inhibiting barnacle settlement, iScience, 26(7): 106981, 2023. (#co-corresponding author)
  7. Pei-Yuan Qian, Aifang Cheng, Ruojun Wang, Rui Zhang, Marine biofilms: diversity, interactions and biofouling, Nature Review Microbiology, 20: 671-684, 2022.
  8. Hei-Man Chow, Aifang Cheng, Xuan Song, Mavis R. Swerdel, Ronald P. Hart, Karl Herrup, ATM is activated by ATP depletion and modulates mitochondrial function through NRF1, Journal of Cell Biology, 218 (3): 909-928, 2019.
  9. Kai-Hei Tse, Aifang Cheng, Fulin Ma, Karl Herrup, DNA damage-associated oligodendrocyte degeneration – an amyloid-independent mechanism contributing to Alzheimer’s dementia, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 14(5): 664-679, 2018.
  10. Hei-Man Chow, Meng Shi, Aifang Cheng, Yuehong Gao, Guimiao Chen, Xuan Song, Raphaella Wai Lam So, Jie Zhang, Karl Herrup, Age-related hyperinsulinemia leads to insulin resistance in neurons and cell-cycle-induced senescence, Nature Neuroscience, 22: 1806-1819, 2019.
  11. Xu Wang, Chao Yang, Xuejie Wang, Jinmin Miao, Weitao Chen, Yiren Zhou, Ying Xu, Yongyan An, Aifang Cheng, Wenkang Ye, Mengxian Che, Dong Song, Xue Yuan, Jiguang Wang, Pei-Yuan Qian, Angela Ruohao Wu, Zhong-Yin Zhang, Kai Liu, Driving axon regeneration by orchestrating neuronal and non-neuronal innate immune responses via the IFNγ-cGAS-STING axis, Neuron, 2022 Nov 4: S0896-6273(22)00961-8, doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.10.028. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36370710.
  12. Graham Vail, Aifang Cheng, Yu Ray Han, Teng Zhao, Shengwang Du, Michael M.T. Loy, Karl Herrup, Mark R. Plummer, ATM protein is located on presynaptic vesicles and its deficit leads to failures in synaptic plasticity, Journal of Neurophysiology, 116(1): 201-209, 2016.
  13. Yi Lan, Jin Sun, Chong Chen, Yanan Sun, Yadong Zhou, Yi Yang, Weipeng Zhang, Runsheng Li, Kun Zhou, Wai Chuen Wong, Yick Hang Kwan, Aifang Cheng, Salim Bougouffa, Cindy Lee Van Dover, Jian-Wen Qiu, Pei-Yuan Qian, Hologenome analysis reveals dual symbiosis in the deep-sea hydrothermal vent snail Gigantopelta aegis, Nature Communications, 12(1165), 2021.
  14. Jessie James Limlingan Malit, Wenchao Liu, Aifang Cheng, Subhasish Saha, Lingli Liu, Pei-Yuan Qian. Global Genome Mining Reveals a Cytochrome P450-Catalyzed Cyclization of Crownlike Cyclodipeptides with Neuroprotective Activity. Organic Letters, 2021.
Full publications list
Research Grants
07/2022 – 06/2025 General Research Fund (GRF) from Hong Kong Research Grants Council: 16100722

Mechanistic study of first-in-class selective G-quadruplex-binding small molecules ameliorating multiple pathological signatures in C9orf72 ALS/FTD cellular and animal models
Patents
  • Qian, Pei-Yuan; Cheng, Aifang; Liu, Changdong; Ye, Wenkang; Zhu, Guang; F10, a potent leading compound targets to various neurodegenerative diseases, 2020-09-15, USA, US63/078,697 [US provisional patent]
  • Qian, Pei-Yuan; Cheng, Aifang; Liu, Changdong; Ye, Wenkang; Zhu, Guang; Novel compounds as potential therapeutic agents targeting various neurodegenerative diseases, 2021-09-15, USA, 17/447,784 [US patent]
  • 钱培元; 程爱芳; 刘长东; 叶文康; 朱广; 作为针对各种神经退行性疾病的潜在治疗剂的新化合物, 2021-09-14, 中国, 202111078152.X [Chinese patent]
  • Qian, Pei-Yuan; Cheng, Aifang; Liu, Changdong; Ye, Wenkang; Zhu, Guang; Albofungin and its derivatives specifically recognize HIV-1 LTR-III G-quadruplex, 2021-06-01, USA, US63/195,192 [US provisional patent]
  • Qian, Pei-Yuan; Cheng, Aifang; Liu, Changdong; Ye, Wenkang; Zhu, Guang; Albofungin and its derivatives specifically recognize HIV-1 LTR-III G-quadruplex, 2022-06-01, USA, 17/804,979 [US patent]
  • 钱培元; 程爱芳; 刘长东; 叶文康; 朱广; 白真菌素及其衍生物特异性识别HIV-1 LTR-III G-四链体, 2022-06-01, 中国, 202210611366.7 [Chinese patent]
  • Qian, Pei-Yuan; She, Weiyi; Cheng, Aifang; Ye, Wenkang; Wang, Ruojun; Cheng, Jinping; Ma, Chunfeng; Potent antifouling compounds albofungins target multiple fouling organisms, 2021-07-22, USA, US63/224,409 [US provisional patent]
  • Qian, Pei-Yuan; She, Weiyi; Cheng, Aifang; Ye, Wenkang; Wang, Ruojun; Cheng, Jinping; Ma, Chunfeng; Potent antifouling agents albofungins target multiple fouling organisms, 2022-07-21, USA, 17/813,988 [US patent]
  • 钱培元; 佘炜怡; 程爱芳; 叶文康; 王若珺; 程金平; 马春风; 基于白真菌素的防污组合物及其应用, 2022-07-19, 中国, 202210843989.7 [Chinese patent]
Awards
2018 Postgraduate Research Excellence Award, School of Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
2013 – 2017 The Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship, Research Grants Council (RGC), Hong Kong
2013 Best Thesis of Hubei Province, Education Department of Hubei Province
2013 Outstanding Graduate Award, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
2010 National Scholarship, Ministry of Education, China
2010 Merit Student Award, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Professional Activities
  • Guest Editor: Biomedicines
  • Reviewer: Applied Optics; Frontiers in Psychiatry; Cells
  • Guest Associate Editor: Frontiers in Microbiology