Dr. Zhiqiang Ku received his bachelor's degree in Veterinary Medicine from Huazhong Agriculture University in 2010 and his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology from the Institute Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2016. He then joined the Asian Veterinary R&D center of Boehringer-Ingelheim as a research scientist. In 2017, Dr. Ku joined the Institute of Molecular Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston as a postdoc and later was promoted to Instructor. Dr. Ku joined the Life Science College at Westlake University in 2022 as a tenure-track assistant professor.

Dr. Zhiqiang Ku’s research focused on academic antibody-drug discovery and development. His representative research work includes 1) the mechanism of antibody cocktail preventing SARS-CoV-2 escape mutation and the engineering of a bispecific antibody and a nasal delivered IgM antibody for treating COVID-19, 2) discovery of antibody-drug against OSMR for ovarian cancer treatment and LILRB2 for immunotherapy of solid tumors, 3) Development of vaccines and neutralizing antibodies for enteroviruses that cause hand-foot and mouth disease. Two antibody drugs discovered by Dr. Ku are under evaluation in phase I clinical trials, including the IgM antibody for COVID-19 and the LILRB2-targeting antibody for cancer.

We will carry out basic and translational research to develop solutions to unmet medical needs. Our research focuses on antibody therapeutics and disease targets in various diseases, with particular interests in (but not limited to) the following directions:

1) Developing antibody immunotherapies for infection, cancer, and other diseases. We will engineer antibody therapeutics with different structures (IgG, IgM, bispecific antibodies, etc.), desired mechanisms of action (antagonist, agonist, T-cell engager, etc.), and other advanced antibody-drug modalities (fusion protein, ADC, CAR-T, etc.) to tailor novel disease targets.

2) Target biology for emerging and reemerging viral diseases. We will establish new methods to study the emergence and evolution of viral targets and facilitate the development of antiviral therapeutics and vaccines.

3) Target biology of Extracellular-Matrix remodeling (ECM) remodeling. We will explore the regulation and functions of ECM remodeling and the receptors that transduce their signals in diseases to facilitate the development of therapeutics.

*These authors contribute equally

1. Ku Z*, Xie X*, Hinton PR*, Liu X*, Ye X, Muruato AE, Ng DC, Biswas S, Zou J, Liu Y, Pandya D, Menachery VD, Rahman S, Cao YA, Deng H, Xiong W, Carlin KB, Liu J, Su H, Haanes EJ, Keyt BA, Zhang N, Carroll SF, Shi PY, An Z. Nasal delivery of an IgM offers broad protection from SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nature. 2021 Jul;595(7869):718-723.

2. Ku Z*, Xie X*, Davidson E, Ye X, Su H, Menachery VD, Li Y, Yuan Z, Zhang X, Muruato AE, I Escuer AG, Tyrell B, Doolan K, Doranz BJ, Wrapp D, Bates PF, McLellan JS, Weiss SR, Zhang N, Shi PY, An Z. Molecular determinants and mechanism for antibody cocktail preventing SARS-CoV-2 escape. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 20;12(1):469.

3. Ku Z*, Xie X*, Lin J*, Gao P*, El Sahili A, Su H, Liu Y, Ye X, Li X, Fan X, Goh BC, Xiong W, Boyd H, Muruato AE, Deng H, Xia H, Jing Z, Kalveram BK, Menachery VD, Zhang N, Lescar J, Shi PY, An Z. Engineering SARS-CoV-2 cocktail antibodies into a bispecific format improves neutralizing potency and breadth. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2022 Feb 1:2022.02.01.478504.

4. Geethadevi A*, Nair A*, Parashar D*, Ku Z*, Xiong W, Deng H, Li Y, George J, McAllister DM, Sun Y, Kadamberi IP, Gupta P, Dwinell MB, Bradley WH, Rader JS, Rui H, Schwabe RF, Zhang N, Pradeep S, An Z, Chaluvally-Raghavan P. Oncostatin M Receptor-Targeted Antibodies Suppress STAT3 Signaling and Inhibit Ovarian Cancer Growth. Cancer Res. 2021 Oct 15;81(20):5336-5352.

5. Mishra I*, Duerrschmid C*, Ku Z, He Y, Xie W, Silva ES, Hoffman J, Xin W, Zhang N, Xu Y, An Z, Chopra AR. Asprosin-neutralizing antibodies as a treatment for metabolic syndrome. Elife. 2021 Apr 27;10:e63784.

6. Wang X*, Ku Z*, Zhang X*, Ye X, Chen J, Liu Q, Zhang W, Zhang C, Fu Z, Jin X, Cong Y, Huang Z. Structure, Immunogenicity, and Protective Mechanism of an Engineered Enterovirus 71-Like Particle Vaccine Mimicking 80S Empty Capsid. J Virol. 2017 Dec 14;92(1):e01330-17.

7. Ku Z, Ye X, Shi J, Wang X, Liu Q, Huang Z. Single Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting the VP1 GH Loop of Enterovirus 71 Inhibit both Virus Attachment and Internalization during Viral Entry. J Virol. 2015 Dec;89(23):12084-95.

8. Ku Z, Liu Q, Ye X, Cai Y, Wang X, Shi J, Li D, Jin X, An W, Huang Z. A virus-like particle based bivalent vaccine confers dual protection against enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A16 infections in mice. Vaccine. 2014 Jul 23;32(34):4296-303.

Patents

1. Ku Z, Zhang N, An Z, Xie X, Shi P. “Antibodies to Coronavirus Spike Protein and Methods of Use”. International Application No. PCT/US2021/028646 based on U.S. Provisional Application No. WO 2021/216876 A2. WO 2021/216876 A3. Licensed to IGM Biosciences.

2. An Z, Zhang N, Ku Z, Zhang C, Liu X, Chen H, Xie J, Costa MJ, Song A, Liao X. “Novel LILRB2 Antibodies and Uses Thereof”. International Patent Publication No. WO 2021/158413 A1. Licensed to Immune-Onc Therapeutics.

3. Zhang N, An Z, Ku Z, Deng H, Lingegoeda SM, Sood KS. “CD5L-BINDING ANTIBODIES AND USES FOR THE SAME”. WO 2021/202908 A1.

4. Zhang N, An Z, Ku Z, Wan Y, Krzeszinski J. “NMES1 Antibodies and Uses and Methods of Use Thereof”. US 2021/0371508 A1

5. Ku Z, Zhang N, An Z, Pradeep S, Chaluvally-Raghavan P. “OSMR-SPECIFIC MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND METHODS OF THEIR USE”. Provisional application filed.

6. Huang Z, Ku Z, Shi J, Liu Q. An anti-enterovirus binding molecules and uses thereof (CN 103421112 B).

Complete publication list:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=zhiqiang%20ku&sort=date&size=20

kuzhiqiang@westlake.edu.cn