ISTM

Dr W-W Li studied biochemistry at Jilin University and Chinese Academy of Sciences, and obtained his PhD in organic chemistry from Zhejiang University, China. Then he did research on plant biotechnology with Prof. Wolfgang Barz at Muenster University and on protein chemistry with Prof. Wolfgang Haehnel at Freiburg University, Germany. He then moved to Oxford University in England, where he worked with Prof Hagan Bayley and Ben Davis on chemical biology of carbohydrate and proteins.

In November 2011 Dr Li moved to the Institute for Science & Technology in Medicine at Keele University to take up a faculty position as Lecturer in Analytical Biochemistry. His initial lecture was entitled “Single-molecule detection of biomolecules using protein nanopores”, for an abstract see Dr Wen-Wu Li presentation Nov2011.   

ISTM research themes: 1. Clinical & Diagnostic Science
                                     2. Neuroscience & Human Metabolism

In our group we are exploring molecular diagnosis and therapy of diseases using a multi-disciplinary approach.

Drug Discovery

Medicines from nature have long been used for the therapy of various kinds of diseases. Even today, many drugs including half of anti-cancer drugs approved by FDA are from or derived from natural products. For examples, taxol from yew trees is the first-line drug for the treatment of ovarian cancer; artemisinin from a Chinese herb (Qinghao) is the primary choice against malaria. Currently, we are exploring the anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-malarial natural products such as cyclic peptides (kalata b1), quinones (thymoquinone), and terpenoids from traditional medicinal plants and/or microorganisms. We use techniques of natural products (peptides) chemistry, synthetic chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, and cell biology to discover and develop bioactive natural compounds and their semi-synthetic analogues as clinical trial candidates. Collaborators: Drs. Paul Horrocks, Alan Richardson, Tony Curtis, Prof. Trevor Greenhough.

Biomarker Discovery

Mass spectrometry: Early diagnosis of diseases is vital for subsequent therapy. Volatile organic compounds emitted from human body are often related to different kinds of disease and disorder. We are interested in the identification and quantification of volatile biomarkers for bacterial infection, lung cancer and diabetes. Currently, we are using a combination of thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry and selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry to address those problems in order to provide a non-invasive approach to diagnosis of those diseases. Collaborators: Profs. David Smith FRS, Patrik Spanel, Dr. Josep Sule-Suso.

Molecular Nanotechnology: Protein nanopore is an emerging technology with many applications. For examples, engineered alpha-hemolysin pores can be utilized to sense small molecule metabolites by measuing the current flow through the pore with single-channel recordings; it can also be used for the single-molecular chemical kinetics and analysis of DNA including the detection of an epigentic base - 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). Currently, we are interested in molecular diagnostics by analysing disease gene markers (e.g. damaged DNA, microRNA, epigenetic bases) with engineered nanopores.

Cover illustration from Dr Li's publication in Nature Chemisty 2010 and frontispiece from Angewandte Chemie 2013.

MSc courses in Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Cell & Tissue Engineering.

I am a key contributor to BME core Module MTE-40029, Medical Equipment and Technology Services Management and module co-ordinator to Molecular Techniques: Application in Tissue Engineering (MTE-40025).

Memberships of professional societies:

• Royal Society of Chemistry;
• European Peptide Society ;
• Phytochemical Society of Europe

2013 BTG MRC Centenary Award

2013 IRAQ MOHESR (A PhD studentship to Omar Ahmed Aldulaimi)

Project title: Investigation of antimicrobial compounds from medicinal plants and volatile biomarkers of bacterial pathogens.

2012 Nigerian ETF (A PhD studentship to Johnson-Ajinwo Okiemute Rosa)

Project title: Investigation of anti-cancer activities of synthetic analogues of thymoquinone and other phytochemicals.

2012 Nigerian Government Funding (A PhD studentship to Fidelia Ijeoma Uche)

Project title: Evaluation of anti-cancer and anti-malarial activities of two Nigerian medicinal plants and circular proteins from Viola yedeonsis.

2012 ISTM capital bid for the purchase of TD-GC/MS instruments

2011 Start-up from Keele University, UK

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                HPLC                                                                      TD-GC/MS