Professor Zhou Bing, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor at the Faculty of Synthetic Biology, Department of Biological Sciences. He is a doctoral supervisor and recipient of the National Distinguished Youth Science Fund. Graduating from the Department of Genetics at Fudan University in 1987, he earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California Berkeley in 1995. After completing his postdoctoral training at UCSF/HHMI, he held a professorship at the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University before joining the Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology in 2022.

Professor Zhou has long been interested in the metabolism of micronutrients, its relevance to diseases, and the action mechanisms of antimicrobial drugs. He has made significant discoveries in these directions, including cloning the human copper transporter gene hCTR1, identifying the pantothenate kinase gene PANK2 associated with neurodegenerative NBIA, elucidating the function of the SCD-EDS (EDSSPD3; OMIN #612350) gene ZIP13, and developing a yeast model for studying the biological effects of artemisinin, unveiling its role in mitochondrial depolarization. He has published over 80 papers in relevant research areas.

Education Background

July 1989–June 1995: Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

August 1988–June 1989: Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1983–1987: Bachelor’s Degree, Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Fudan University

Professional Experience

October 2022–Present: Distinguished Professor, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology

September 2002–January 2022: Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

July 1995–July 2002: Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSF/HHMI

International Recognition

Vice Chairman, Trace Elements Branch, Chinese Biophysics Society

Awards

2007–2011: Recipient of the National Distinguished Youth Science Fund

Ongoing Research Projects

1.Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) project:Roles of ZIP13 in mammalian liver and systemic iron homeostasis(Jan 2025-Dec 2027),Role:Ongoing, Principal Investigator,Funding:¥2,850,000

2.National Key R&D Project:Synthesis, Assembly, and Regulation of Artificial Eukaryotic Mitochondria(Dec 2024–Nov 2029),Role:Participant,Funding:¥2,430,000.

3.National Key R&D Project:Construction of Intelligent Interactive Bio-Nonbiological Hybrid Systems and Their Application in Gastrointestinal Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment(Jan 2024–Dec 2028),Role:Participant,Funding:¥1,000,000

4.National Natural Science Foundation General Project:Role of Slc39a13 in Mammalian Iron Metabolism.(Jan 2024–Dec 2027),Role:Ongoing, Principal Investigator,Funding:¥500,000.

Representative Publications

1.Huihui Li, Xiaoting Wang, Yu Zhang, Yuan Yang, Joe Z Zhang, Bing Zhou. SLC39A13 Regulates Heart Function via Mitochondrial Iron Homeostasis Maintenance. Circulation Research, 2025, doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.125.326201.

2.Huihui Li, Yanmei Cui, Yule Hu, Mengran Zhao, Kuanyu Li, Xiaoyun Pang, Fei Sun, Bing Zhou. Mammalian SLC39A13 promotes ER/Golgi iron transport and iron homeostasis in multiple compartments. Nature Communications, 2024, 15(1):10838

3.Jing Ge, Huihui Li, Xing Liang, Bing Zhou. SLC30A9: an evolutionarily conserved mitochondrial zinc transporter essential for mammalian early embryonic development. Cell Mol Life Sci. 81(1):357.

4.Binyu Lu, Shanshan Guo, Jialin Zhaoi, Xiaoting Wang, Bing Zhou. Adipose knockout of H-ferritin improves energy metabolism in mice. Molecular Metabolism, 2024, 80:101871

5.Yunpeng Huang, Zhihui Wan, Yinglu Tang, Junxuan Xu, Bretton Laboret, Sree Nallamothu, Chenyu Yang, Boxiang Liu, Rongze Olivia Lu, Bingwei Lu, Juan Feng, Jing Cao, Susan Hayflick, Zhihao Wu, Bing Zhou. Pantothenate kinase 2 interacts with PINK1 to regulate mitochondrial quality control via acetyl-CoA metabolism. Nature Communications, 2022, 13(1):2412

6.Guiran Xiao, Zhi-Hua Liu, Mengran Zhao, Hui-Li Wang, Bing Zhou. Transferrin 1 Functions in Iron Trafficking and Genetically Interacts with Ferritin in Drosophila melanogaster. Cell Reports, 2019, 26(3):748-758

7.Guiran Xiao, Zhihui Wan, Qiangwang Fan, Xiaona Tang, Bing Zhou. The metal transporter ZIP13 supplies iron into the secretory pathway in Drosophila melanogaster. ELIFE, 2014, 3:e03191

8.Yunpeng Huang, Zhihao Wu, Yu Cao, Minglin Lang, Bingwei Lu, Bing Zhou. Zinc Binding Directly Regulates Tau Toxicity Independent of Tau Hyperphosphorylation. Cell Reports, 2014, 8(3):831-842

9.Guiran Xiao, Qiangwang Fan, Xiaoxi Wang, Bing Zhou. Huntington disease arises from a combinatory toxicity of polyglutamine and copper binding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013, 110 (37):14995-15000

10.Yue Feng, Wenfei Li, Jian Li, Jiawei Wang, Jingpeng Ge, Duo Xu, Yanjing Liu, Kaiqi Wu, Qingyin Zeng, Jia-Wei Wu, Changlin Tian, Bing Zhou, Maojun Yang. Structural insight into the type-II mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenases. Nature, 2012, 491(7424):478-482

11.Zhihao Wu, YumeiDu, Hua Xue, Yongsheng Wu, Bing Zhou. Aluminum induces neurodegeneration and its toxicity arises from increased iron accumulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Neurobiology of Aging, 2012, 33(1):199.e1-12.

12.Juan Wang, Liying Huang, Jian Li, Qiangwang Fan, Yicheng Long, Ying Li, Bing Zhou. Artemisinin directly targets malarial mitochondria through its specific mitochondrial activation. PLoS one, 2010, 5(3):e9582

13.Wei Li, Weike Mo, Dan Shen, Libo Sun, Juan Wang, Shan Lu, Jane M Gitschier, Bing Zhou. Yeast model uncovers dual roles of mitochondria in the action of artemisinin. PLoS genetics, 1(3):e36

14.Bing Zhou, Shawn Westaway, Barbara Levinson, Monique Johnson, Jane Gitschier, Susan Hayflick. A novel pantothenate kinase gene (PANK2) is defective in Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome. Nature Genetics, 2001, 28(4):345-349

15.Bing Zhou, Jane Gitschier. hCTR1: A human gene for copper uptake identified by complementation in yeast. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94(14):7481-7486

1.Trace Metal Ion Metabolism and Related Diseases:

Using model organisms such as Drosophila and mice.

2.Mechanisms of Artemisinin’s Antimicrobial Activity:

Focused on its role in mitochondrial depolarization.