Publications

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Chia, P.H.J., Toyonaga, T., Tong, J., Le, H., Dias, M., Boyle, A. J., Raymond, R., Longbrake, E.E., Huang, Y., Carson, R. E., Airas, L., Vasdev, N., Chen, M-K.*, Zheng, C.* SV2A PET reveals synaptic density loss in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and in a pilot multiple sclerosis study. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. A. 123(10), e2517709123 (2026) (link)

Wang, H., Wang, T., Li, Y., He, Q.; Ma, W.; Guan, X.; Li, Y.; Bao, Y.; Zhao, Y*.; Zhang, Q.; Vasdev, N.; Zheng, C.*; Fu, J.* Three-component synthesis of β-thio tertiary alkylamines from simple alkenes via SH2 homolytic substitution. Sci. Adv. 12, eadz1874 (2026). (link)

Li, Y., Zhou, Y., Bortolus, M.R., Zhang, X., Wang, Z., Liu, D., Le, H.,  Esezobor, O.Z., Ni, J., Zhang, Q., Vasdev, N., Cheng, G-J*, Zheng, C.*, Fu J*. Iron-Catalyzed Three-Component Amino(radio)fluorination of Alkenes to Unprotected β-(radio)Fluoroamines. Nat. Commun. 16, 10917 (2025) (link)

Li, Y., Le, H., Wang, Z., Esezobor, O.Z., Zhang, X., Ma, D., Wang, Z., Zhang, Q., Vasdev, N., Zheng, C.*, Fu, J.* Facile Synthesis of β,β-(Radio)difluoroamines via Amino(radio)fluorination of α-Fluoroalkenes. ACS Catal. 15, 20123–20134 (2025) (link)

Chen, B., Zheng, C., Balayeva, T., Toyonaga, T., Wang, X., Tong, J., Mennie, W., Mihailovic, J., Coman, D., Hyder, F., Strittmatter, S.M., Carson, R.E., Huang, Y., Cai, Z.* [¹⁸F]SynVesT‑1 PET detects SV2A changes in the spinal cord and brain of rats with spinal cord injury. J. Nucl. Med. 66, 1440-1448 (2025) (link)

Li, H., Ma, Q., Li, X., Zheng, C., Lin, L., Gu, J., Huang, K., Yang, H., Xu, H., Xu, F.*, Hua, H.*, Cheng, M.*, Li, D.* Development of Hydrogen Sulfide-Donating Silybin Derivatives with a Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus-Alleviating Effect through Improving Intestinal L-Cell Functions. J. Med. Chem. 68, 15520-15542 (2025) (link)

Zheng, C., Stehouwer, J. S., Ummenthala, G. R., Munot, Y. S., Vasdev, N.* Multi-Fused S,N-Heterocyclic Compounds for Targeting α-Synuclein Aggregates. Cells. 14, 1531 (2025) (link)

Balayeva, T., Asch, R.H., Tan, P.W., Mennie, W., Tong, J., Chen, B., Zhuang, Z., Zheng, C., Zheng, M., Toyonaga, T., Cai, Z.* Evaluation of radio‑thin‑layer chromatography as an alternative to radio‑HPLC for [¹⁸F]SynVesT‑1 metabolism analysis in rats. Nucl. Med. Biol. 146–147,109029. (2025) (link)

Zheng, C., Chia, P.H.J., Toyonaga, T., Tong, J., Le, H., Dias, M,, Boyle, A.J., Raymond, R., Longbrake, E.E., Huang, Y., Carson, R., Airas, L., Vasdev, N., Chen, M‑K. PET imaging of synaptic density loss in patients with multiple sclerosis. Res. Sq. Preprint: Version 1. (2025) (link)

Zheng, C., Xia, W., Zhang, J. Rock inhibitors in Alzheimer’s disease. Front. Aging. 6, 1547883 (2025) (link)

Lindberg, A., Tong, J., Zheng, C., Mueller, A., Kroth, H., Stephens, A., Mathis, C.A., Vasdev, N.* Radiosynthesis, In Vitro Characterization, and In Vivo PET Neuroimaging of [18F]F-4 for Tau Protein: A First-in-Human PET Study. ACS Chem Neurosci. 16,1182-1189 (2025) (link)

Wang, S., Feng, D., Wang, W., Zheng, C., Liang, C., Li, S., Li, H., Xu, F., Cao, H.*, Hua, H.*, Cheng, M.*, Li, D.* Discovery of SIRT1-Activating Hydrogen Sulfide Donating Derivatives for Efficient Resistant of Myocardial Ischemic Injury. J. Med. Chem. 67,17657-17675. (2024) (link)

Liang, C., Wang, S., Feng, D., Wang, S., Zheng, C., Qu, Y., Wang, W., Ma, Y., Li, H., Yang, H., Cao, H.*, Hua, H.*, Cheng, M.*, Li, D.* Structure‑Guided Discovery of Subtype Selective SIRT6 Inhibitors with a β‑Carboline Skeleton for the Treatment of Breast Cancer. J. Med. Chem. 67, 21975–22001. (2024) (link)

Liu, H., Wang, S., Qiu, K., Zheng, C., Tan, H.* Preparation, structural characterization, and biological activities of lotus polysaccharides: A review. Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 279,135191. (2024) (link)

Yang, Y., Zheng, C., Chen, B., Hernandez, N.C., Faust, P.L., Cai, Z., Louis, E.D., Matuskey, D.* Decreased Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A Binding in the Human Postmortem Essential Tremor Cerebellum: Evidence of Reduction in Synaptic Density. Cerebellum. 23,1053-1060. (2024) (link)

Drake, L.R., Wu, Y., Naganawa, M., Asch, R., Zheng, C., Najafzadeh, S., Pracitto, R., Lindemann, M., Li, S., Ropchan, J., Labaree, D., Emery, P.R., Dias, M., Henry, S., Nabulsi, N., Matuskey, D., Hillmer, A.T., Gallezot, J.D., Carson, R.E., Cai, Z.*, Huang, Y.* First-in-Human Study of 18F-SynVesT-2: An SV2A PET Imaging Probe with Fast Brain Kinetics and High Specific Binding. J. Nucl. Med. 65, 462–469. (2024) (link)

Stoner, A., Fu, L., Nicholson, L., Zheng, C., Toyonaga, T., Spurrier, J., Laird, W., Cai, Z., Strittmatter, S.M.* Neuronal transcriptome, tau and synapse loss in Alzheimer's knock-in mice require prion protein. Alzheimers Res. Ther. 15, 201. (2023) (link)

Ma, J., Wang, Q., Sun, Y., Zhu, E., Li, X., Tan, H.*, Chen, G.*, Zheng, C.* Copper-catalyzed umpolung Sonogashira-type coupling of arene boronic acids under visible light. Chem. Commun. 59, 5043-5046. (2023) (link)

Zheng, C., Toyonaga, T., Chen, B., Nicholson, L., Mennie, W., Liu, M., Spurrier, J., Deluca, K., Strittmatter, S.M., Carson, R.E., Huang, Y., Cai, Z.* Decreased synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A binding in a rodent model of familial Alzheimer's disease detected by [(18)F]SDM-16. Front. Neurol. 14, 1045644. (2023) (link)

Yang, H., Zeng, F., Luo, Y., Zheng, C., Ran, C., Yang, J. Curcumin Scaffold as a Multifunctional Tool for Alzheimer's Disease Research. Molecules. 27, (2023) (link)

Zheng, C., Holden, D., Zheng, M.Q., Pracitto, R., Wilcox, K.C., Lindemann, M., Felchner, Z., Zhang, L., Tong, J., Fowles, K., Finnema, S.J., Nabulsi, N., Carson, R.E., Huang, Y., Cai, Z.* A metabolically stable PET tracer for imaging synaptic vesicle protein 2A: synthesis and preclinical characterization of [(18)F]SDM-16. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 49,1482-1496. (2022) (link)

Pracitto, R., Wilcox, K.C., Lindemann, M., Tong, J., Zheng, C., Li, S., Finnema, S.J., Huang, Y., Cai, Z.* Further Investigation of Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2A (SV2A) Ligands Designed for Positron Emission Tomography and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Imaging: Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship of Substituted Pyridinylmethyl-4-(3,5-difluorophenyl)pyrrolidin-2-ones. ACS Omega. 6, 27676-27683. (2021) (link)

Qiao, J., Wang, M., Cui, M., Fang, Y., Li, H., Zheng, C., Li, Z., Xu, Y.*, Hua, H.*, Li, D.* Small-molecule probes for fluorescent detection of cellular hypoxia-related nitroreductase. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 203, 114199. (2021) (link)

Zheng, C.*, Yu, Y., Kuang, S., Zhu, B., Zhou, H., Zhang, S.Q., Yang, J., Shi, L.*, Ran, C.* β-Amyloid Peptides Manipulate Switching Behaviors of Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adducts. Anal Chem. 93, 9887-9896. (2021) (link)

Hu, X., Xiao, Y., Sun, J., Ji, B., Luo, S., Wu, B., Zheng, C., Wang, P., Xu, F.*, Cheng, K., Hua, H.*, Li, D.* New possible silver lining for pancreatic cancer therapy: Hydrogen sulfide and its donors. Acta Pharm Sin B. 11, 1148-1157. (2021) (link)

Fang, Y., Li, H., Ji, B., Cheng, K., Wu, B., Li, Z., Zheng, C., Hua, H., Li, D.* Renieramycin-type alkaloids from marine-derived organisms: Synthetic chemistry, biological activity and structural modification. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 210, 113092. (2021) (link)

Li, H., Fang, Y., Yan, J., Ren, X., Zheng, C., Wu, B., Wang, S., Li, Z., Hua, H.*, Wang, P.*, Li, D.* Small-molecule fluorescent probes for H2S detection: Advances and perspectives. Trends Anal. Chem. 134, 116117. (2021) (link)

Chen, Z., Hou, L., Gan, J., Cai, Q., Ye, W., Chen, J., Tan, Z., Zheng, C., Li, G., Xu, H., Fowler, C.J., Liang, S.H.*, Wang, L.* Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of a novel positron emission tomography (PET) ligand for imaging fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 30, 127513. (2020) (link)

Yang, J., Yin, W., Van, R., Yin, K., Wang, P., Zheng, C., Zhu, B., Ran, K., Zhang, C., Kumar, M., Shao, Y., Ran C.* Turn-on chemiluminescence probes and dual-amplification of signal for detection of amyloid beta species in vivo. Nat. Commun. 11, 4052. (2020) (link)

Li, H., Xu, F., Gao, G., Gao, X., Wu, B., Zheng, C., Wang, P., Li, Z., Hua, H., Li, D.* Hydrogen sulfide and its donors: Novel antitumor and antimetastatic therapies for triple-negative breast cancer. Redox Biol. 34, 101564. (2020) (link)

Wang, L., Wang, T., Cheng, G., Li, X., Wei, J., Guo, B., Zheng, C., Chen, G., Ran, C., Zheng, C.* Direct C–H Arylation of Aldehydes by Merging Photocatalyzed Hydrogen Atom Transfer with Palladium Catalysis. ACS Catal. 10, 7543-7551. (2020) (link)

Yang, J., Zhu, B., Yin, W., Han, Z., Zheng, C., Wang, P.*, Ran, C.* Differentiating Aβ40 and Aβ42 in amyloid plaques with a small molecule fluorescence probe. Chem Sci. 11, 5238-5245. (2020) (link)

Xiao, Z., Wang, L., Wei, J., Ran, C., Liang, S.H., Shang, J., Chen, G.Y., Zheng, C.* Visible-light induced decarboxylative coupling of redox-active esters with disulfides to construct C-S bonds. Chem. Commun. 56, 4164-4167. (2020) (link)

Nie, B., Wang, L., Hu, Y., Liang, S., Tan, Z., Chai, P., Tang, Y., Shang, J., Pan, Z., Zhao, X., Zhang, X., Gong, J., Zheng, C., Xu, H.*, Wey, H.Y., Liang, S.H., Shan, B.* A population stereotaxic positron emission tomography brain template for the macaque and its application to ischemic model. Neuroimage. 203, 116163. (2019) (link)

Zheng, C., Wang, G., Shang, R.* Catalyst-free Decarboxylation and Decarboxylative Giese Additions of Alkyl Carboxylates through Photoactivation of Electron Donor-Acceptor Complex. Adv. Synth. Catal. 361, 4500-4505. (2019) (link)

Bai, M., Zheng, C-J.*, Huang, G.L., Mei, R.Q., Wang, B., Luo, Y.P., Zheng, C., Niu, Z.G., Chen, G.Y.* Bioactive Meroterpenoids and Isocoumarins from the Mangrove-Derived Fungus Penicillium sp. TGM112. J Nat Prod. 82, 1155-1164. (2019) (link)

Zheng, C.*, Li, M.Z., You, T.P.*, Tang, W.P., Lou, L.G. Synthesis and antitumor activity of a series of lactone-opened camptothecin derivatives. J. Asian. Nat. Prod. Res. 21, 51-61. (2019) (link)

2018

Fan, C., Hu, K., Wang, J., Hao, X., Wei, J., Song, M.*, Zheng, C.* Synthesis of quaternary succinimides promoted by Ferric Nitrate. Tetrahedron Lett. 59, 4606-4610. (2018) (link)

Shi, L., Zhang, W., Chen, S., Lu, L., Fan, R., Tan, J., Zheng, C. The Role of Ortho-dearomatization Reaction in Constructing Spirocyclic Scaffolds with an All-carbon Ring Junction. Curr. Org. Synth. 15, 904-923. (2018) (link)

Zheng, C.*, Wang, Y., Xu, Y., Chen, Z., Chen, G., Liang, S.H.* Ru-Photoredox-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Oxygenation of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids through N-(acyloxy)phthalimide. Org. Lett. 20, 4824-4827. (2018) (link)

Zheng, C., Cheng, W.M., Li, H.L., Na, R.S.*, Shang, R.* Cis-Selective Decarboxylative Alkenylation of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids with Vinyl Arenes Enabled by Photoredox/Palladium/Uphill Triple Catalysis. Org. Lett. 20, 2559-2563. (2018) (link)

Hu, K., Zheng, C., An, M., Ma, X., Wang, L. A peptide-based supercapacitor and its performance improvement via TiO2 coating. J. Mater. Chem. A. 6, 8047-8052. (2018) (link)

Before 2018

Zhou W, Tan H, Qiu S, Chen G, Liu H, Zheng C. Biomimetic total synthesis and structure confirmation of myrtucommulone K. Tetrahedron Lett. 58, 1817-1821. (2017) (link)

Liu, J., Li, H., Zheng, C., Lu, S., Guo, X., Yin, X., Na, R., Yu, B., Wang, M. A General Asymmetric Synthesis of (R)-Matsutakeol and Flavored Analogs. Molecules. 22, 364. (2017) (link)

Zheng, C., Wang, L., Li, J., Wang, L., Wang, D.Z.* Ortho-dearomatization of phenols creating all-carbon spiro-bicycles. Org. Lett. 15, 4046-4049. (2013) (link)

Tan, H., Zheng, C., Liu, Z., Wang, D.Z.* Biomimetic total syntheses of linderaspirone A and bi-linderone and revisions of their biosynthetic pathways. Org. Lett. 13, 2192-5. (2011) (link)

Li, M., Jin, W., Jiang, C., Zheng, C., Tang, W., You, T.*, Lou, L. 7-Cycloalkylcamptothecin derivatives: Preparation and biological evaluation. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 19, 4107-9. (2009) (link)