Dr. Dang received his B.S. in School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Nanjing University. He then went to the University of Chicago and obtained his Ph.D. degree in Department of Chemistry focusing on studying protein ion channel ligands (venom toxins) through chemical protein synthesis. Dr. Dang did his post-doctoral researches at Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, UCSF using computational protein design and biological display technologies to develop novel protein structures and technologies. Dr. Dang has published many papers in high-profile journals including Nature Methods, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Neuron, PNAS. Outside of scientific research, Dr. Dang likes rock climbing, snowboarding and hiking.

Fascinated by protein molecules, Dr. Dang has been focusing his researches on studying the structure, function and biological activities of protein molecules through chemical synthesis, computational design and biological display technologies. Chemical protein synthesis provides atomic control of protein structures and enables protein modifications in unprecedented ways. Computational protein design allows protein structure exploration beyond natural world. We walk at the frontier of protein synthesis and protein design to develop technologies and to advance protein therapeutics with the help of high throughput protein screening.

Researches at Dang lab focus on:

1. Novel protein technology development:

a. Site-specific protein conjugation 

b. Site-specific chemical protein cleavage 

c. Novel methodologies for protein chemical synthesis

2. Novel protein probes/therapeutics development:

a. Design and develop highly stable protein structures

b. Develop specific binders for various protein targets (ion channels, membrane receptors) as biophysical probes/therapeutic candidates using structure-based design and high throughput protein screening

1. M. Li,^# Z. Ye,^# K. Tang,^# L, Guo,^#W. Bi, Y. Zhang, Y. Tang, G. Rong, M. Sawan, X. Yin, R. Sun, S. Yuan,* B. Dang*. Enhanced Trimeric ACE2 Exhibits Potent Prophylactic and Therapeutic Efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron Variants In Vivo. Cell Research, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-022-00656-4.

2. L. Guo,^# W. Bi,^# X. Wang,^# W. Xu,^# R. Yan,^# Y. Zhang,^# K. Zhao, Y. Li, M. Zhang, X. Cai, S. Jiang, Y. Xie, Q. Zhou*, L. Lu*, B. Dang*. Engineered trimeric ACE2 binds viral spike protein and locks it in “Three-up” conformation to potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cell Research, 2021, 31, 98–100.

3. J. Boyce, B. Dang*, B. Ary, Q. Edmondson, C. Craik, W. F. DeGrado*, I. Seiple*, “Platform to discover protease-activated antibiotics and application to siderophore–antibiotic conjugates”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2020, 142, 51, 21310–21321.

4. B. Dang*, M. Mravic, B. Mensa, H. Hu, N. Schimidt, W. F. DeGrado*. SNAC-tag for sequence-specific chemical protein cleavage. Nature Methods, 2019, 16, 319–322.

5. B. Dang^#, H. Wu^#, V. K. Mulligan^#, M. Mravic, Y. Wu, T. Lemmin, A. Ford, D. A. Silva, D. Baker, W. F. DeGrado*. De novo design of covalently constrained mesosize protein scaffolds with unique tertiary structures. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2017, 114, 10852-10857. 

6. B. Yang, S. Tang, C. Ma, S. T. Li, G. C. Shao, B. Dang, W. F. DeGrado, M. Q. Dong, P. G. Wang, S. Ding, L. Wang. Spontaneous and specific chemical cross-linking in live cells to capture and identify protein interactions. Nat. Commun. 2017, 8, 2240. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02409-z.   

7. T. Kubota^#, B. Dang^#, J. L. Carvalho-de-Souza, A. M. Correa, F. Bezanilla. Nav channel binder containing a specific conjugation-site based on a low toxicity b-scorpion toxin. Scientific Reports, 2017, 7, 16329. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16426-x. 

8. B. Dang, R. Shen, T. Kubota, K. Mandal, F. Bezanilla, B. Roux, S. B. H. Kent. Inversion of the Side-Chain Stereochemistry of Indvidual Thr or Ile Residues in a Protein Molecule: Impact on the Folding, Stability, and Structure of the ShK Toxin. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2017, 56, 3324-3328.

9. B. Dang, S. Chhabra, M. W. Pennington, R. S. Norton, S. B. H. Kent. Reinvestigation of the biological activity of D-allo-ShK protein. J. Biol. Chem. 2017, 292, 12599-12605.

10. T. Kubota, T. Durek, B. Dang, R. K. Finol-Urdaneta, D. J. Craik, S. B. H. Kent, R. J. French, F. Bezanilla, A. M. Correa. Mapping of voltage sensor positions in resting and inactivated mammalian sodium channels by LRET. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2017, 114, E1857-E1865.

11. B. Dang, T. Kubota, K. Mandal, A. M. Correa, F. Bezanilla, S. B. H. Kent. Elucidation of the Covalent and Tertiary Structures of Biologically Active Ts3 Toxin. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 8639-8642.

12. B. Dang^#, B. Dhayalan^#, S. B. H. Kent. Enhanced Solvation of Peptides Attached to "Solid-Phase" Resins: Straightforward Syntheses of the Elastin Sequence Pro-Gly-Val-Gly-Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly-Val. Org. Lett., 2015, 17, 3521-3523.

13. J. L. Carvalho-de-Souza^#, J. S. Treger^#, B. Dang^#, S. B. H. Kent. D. R. Pepperberg, F. Bezanilla. Photosensitivity of Neurons Enabled by Cell-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles. Neuron, 2015, 86, 207-217.

Highlighted in Nature, Nature Methods, Nature Review Neuroscience

14. B. Dang^#, T. Kubota^#, A. M. Correa, F. Bezanilla, S. B. H. Kent. Total Chemical Synthesis of Biologically Active Fluorescent Dye-Labeled Ts1 Toxin. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 53, 8970-8974.

15. B. Dang, T. Kubota, K. Mandal, F. Bezanilla, S. B. H. Kent. Native Chemical Ligation at Asx-Cys, Glx-Cys: Chemical Synthesis and High-Resolution X-ray Structure of ShK Toxin by Racemic Protein Crystallography. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135,11911-11919.

We have positions open for Postdocs, Ph.D. Students, research assistants with backgrounds in Molecular Biology, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Biochemistry, Structure Biology, Cell biology etc. We are an interdisciplinary research group, we welcome applicants from various other research backgrounds too.