Lina Cui, Ph.D.
Associate Professor And Graduate Coordinator
About Lina Cui
Lina Cui, Ph.D., obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry from Nankai University (China) in 2003. She continued her study in the University of Alberta (Canada) and obtained her Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry and Glycobiology in 2009 under the direction of Prof. David R. Bundle, the founding Director of the Alberta Glycomics Centre. Following graduate school, Dr. Cui spent two years (2009-2010) as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Jean M.J. Fréchet at UC Berkeley. Her postdoctoral training continued at Stanford University School of Medicine (2011-2014), where she worked with Prof. Jianghong Rao in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) directed by Prof. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir. In 2015, Dr. Cui joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico and UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. In August 2018, she was recruited to the University of Florida and was appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy. In 2022, she was promoted with tenure to associate professor. Visit www.linacui.org for more details.
Related Links:
Teaching Profile
Courses Taught
2018,2020-2023
PHA5878C Pt Care 3: Cv and Pulm
2020
PHA7939 Journal Colloquy in Pharmacodynamics
2019-2024
PHA7979 Advanced Research
2019-2022
PHA6934 Seminar in Medicinal Chemistry
2020
PHA6971 Research for Master’s Thesis
2019-2024
PHA7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2020,2022
PHA6910 Supervised Research
2020-2024
PHA6935 Selected Topics in Pharmacy
2018,2020-2024
PHA5439 Prin Med Chem-Pcol I
2021-2022
PHA4913 Undergraduate Research in Medicinal Chemistry
2021
PHA5930 Sem Pharm Research
2022-2024
PHA6467C Drug Design II
2022-2024
PHA6740 Fundamentals of Grant Writing in the Pharmaceutical Sciences
2022-2024
PHA6905C Research Procedures in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research Profile
The Cui lab explores the biochemical activities of glycan processing enzymes and develops therapeutic and diagnostic molecules or tools for various types of cancer and age-related diseases (e.g. diabetes, neurodegeneration, etc). The interdisciplinary program integrates organic chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and molecular imaging. Our current research explores the biochemistry of heparanase, a key enzyme involved in the remodeling of extracellular matrix. We are developing molecular probes to study the precise modes of heparanase activity using molecular imaging, as well as diagnostic tools and drug molecules targeting heparanase and related enzymes. Our lab also develops molecular tools to detect senescence and DNA damage, and we have applied these molecules in various collaborative projects to explore the progression of diabetes, neurodegeneration and other age-related diseases.
Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)
0000-0002-8149-5206
Publications
2024
Chemical toolbox to interrogate Heparanase-1 activity
Current Opinion in Chemical Biology.
80
[DOI] 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102452.
2024
Design Principle of Heparanase Inhibitors: A Combined In Vitro and In Silico Study
ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
15(7):1032-1040
[DOI] 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00268.
[PMID] 39015272.
2024
Morphological profiling for drug discovery in the era of deep learning
Briefings in Bioinformatics.
25(4)
[DOI] 10.1093/bib/bbae284.
[PMID] 38886164.
2024
Novel PET Imaging Probe for Quantitative Detection of Senescence In Vivo
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
67(7):5924-5934
[DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00179.
[PMID] 38507820.
2023
Detecting cellular senescence in vivo: Imagining imaging better
Aging and Cancer.
4(3-4):97-110
[DOI] 10.1002/aac2.12067.
2023
Discovery and development of small-molecule heparanase inhibitors
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry.
90
[DOI] 10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117335.
[PMID] 37257254.
2022
A Universal and Modular Scaffold for Heparanase Activatable Probes and Drugs
Bioconjugate Chemistry.
33(12):2290-2298
[DOI] 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.2c00426.
[PMID] 36346913.
2021
A self-immolative linker for heparanase activatable probes
bioRxiv.
[DOI] 10.1101/2021.06.15.448502.
2021
A Versatile Linker for Probes Targeting Hydrolases via In Situ labeling
bioRxiv.
[DOI] 10.1101/2021.06.14.448363.
2021
Dual‐Mechanism Quenched Fluorogenic Probe Provides Selective and Rapid Detection of Cathepsin L Activity**
ChemMedChem.
16(7):1082-1087
[DOI] 10.1002/cmdc.202000823.
[PMID] 33295147.
2021
Molecular probes for selective detection of cysteine cathepsins
Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry.
[DOI] 10.1039/d1ob00225b.
[PMID] 34288999.
2021
Noninvasive NIR Imaging of Senescence via In Situ Labeling
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
64(24):17969-17978
[DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01313.
[PMID] 34752102.
2021
Ultrasensitive small molecule fluorogenic probe for human heparanase
Chemical Science.
12(1):239-246
[DOI] 10.1039/d0sc04872k.
[PMID] 34163592.
2020
A Self-Immobilizing NIR Probe for Non-invasive Imaging of Senescence
bioRxiv.
[DOI] 10.1101/2020.03.27.010827.
2020
Cover Feature: Responsive Fluorophore Aggregation Provides Spectral Contrast for Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (ChemBioChem 15/2020)
ChemBioChem.
21(15):2087-2087
[DOI] 10.1002/cbic.202000426.
2020
Reduction TriggeredIn SituPolymerization in Living Mice
Journal of the American Chemical Society.
142(36):15575-15584
[DOI] 10.1021/jacs.0c07594.
[PMID] 32804495.
2020
Responsive Fluorophore Aggregation Provides Spectral Contrast for Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
ChemBioChem.
21(15):2196-2204
[DOI] 10.1002/cbic.202000056.
[PMID] 32180309.
2019
[18F]-SuPAR: A Radiofluorinated Probe for Noninvasive Imaging of DNA Damage-Dependent Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Activity
Bioconjugate Chemistry.
30(5):1331-1342
[DOI] 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00089.
2019
A Self-Immobilizing NIR Probe forin vivoImaging of Chemotherapy Induced Senescence
Molecular and Cellular Biology / Genetics.
[DOI] 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-894.
2019
Epigenetic control of heparanase expression through CRISPR/dCas9
Molecular and Cellular Biology / Genetics.
[DOI] 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-5234.
2019
Real-time imaging of cellular senescence in living animals
Molecular and Cellular Biology / Genetics.
[DOI] 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-903.
2019
Real-time imaging of senescence in tumors with DNA damage
Scientific Reports.
9(1)
[DOI] 10.1038/s41598-019-38511-z.
[PMID] 30765819.
2016
Controlling the stereoselectivity of glycosylation via solvent effects
Canadian Journal of Chemistry.
94(11)
[DOI] 10.1139/CJC-2016-0417.
2015
2-Cyanobenzothiazole (CBT) Condensation for Site-Specific Labeling of Proteins at the Terminal Cysteine Residues
Site-Specific Protein Labeling.
81-92
[DOI] 10.1007/978-1-4939-2272-7_5.
2014
Bioorthogonal cyclization-mediated in situ self-assembly of small-molecule probes for imaging caspase activity in vivo
Nature Chemistry.
6(6):519-526
[DOI] 10.1038/nchem.1920.
[PMID] 24848238.
2014
Caspase-responsive smart gadolinium-based contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging of drug-induced apoptosis
Chem. Sci..
5(10):3845-3852
[DOI] 10.1039/c4sc01392a.
2014
Phosphorylcholine-Coated Semiconducting Polymer Nanoparticles as Rapid and Efficient Labeling Agents for In Vivo Cell Tracking
Advanced Healthcare Materials.
3(8):1292-1298
[DOI] 10.1002/adhm.201300534.
[PMID] 24668903.
2014
Real-time imaging of oxidative and nitrosative stress in the liver of live animals for drug-toxicity testing
Nature Biotechnology.
32(4):373-380
[DOI] 10.1038/nbt.2838.
[PMID] 24658645.
2014
Synthesis of modified Trichinella spiralis disaccharide epitopes and a comparison of their recognition by chemical mapping and saturation transfer difference NMR
Carbohydrate Research.
383:1-13
[DOI] 10.1016/j.carres.2013.10.012.
2012
Conjugation Chemistry through Acetals toward a Dextran-Based Delivery System for Controlled Release of siRNA
Journal of the American Chemical Society.
134(38):15840-15848
[DOI] 10.1021/ja305552u.
2012
First Per-6-O-tritylation of Cyclodextrins
Organic Letters.
14(6):1612-1615
[DOI] 10.1021/ol300358u.
2011
Acid-Degradable Cationic Dextran Particles for the Delivery of siRNA Therapeutics
Bioconjugate Chemistry.
22(6):1056-1065
[DOI] 10.1021/bc100542r.
[PMID] 21539393.
2011
Mannosylated Dextran Nanoparticles: A pH-Sensitive System Engineered for Immunomodulation through Mannose Targeting
Bioconjugate Chemistry.
22(5):949-957
[DOI] 10.1021/bc100596w.
2011
Supramolecular Complexing of Membane Siglec CD22 Mediated by a Polyvalent Heterobifunctional Ligand that Templates on IgM
Bioconjugate Chemistry.
22(4):546-550
[DOI] 10.1021/bc100579d.
[PMID] 21405019.
2010
Synthesis of Monomeric and Dimeric Repeating Units of the Zwitterionic Type 1 Capsular Polysaccharide fromStreptococcus pneumoniae
Chemistry – A European Journal.
16(11):3476-3488
[DOI] 10.1002/chem.200902460.
2009
From alpha to beta: identification of amino acids required for theN-acetyllactosamine-specific lectin-like activity of bundlin
Molecular Microbiology.
72(4):859-868
[DOI] 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06679.x.
[PMID] 19400799.
Grants
Sep 2024
ACTIVE
AI-directed discovery of heparanase inhibitors
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDDK
Sep 2023
ACTIVE
Specific senescence detection in pancreatic islets
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIA
Jan 2023
ACTIVE
Exploring novel therapeutic strategies for combinatory therapy to treat renal clear cell carcinomas
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NCI
Sep 2022
ACTIVE
STTR Subaward PET?probes for senescence detection in brain
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: SENOTRAC BIOTECHNOLOGY
via NATL INST OF HLTH NIA
May 2019
– Dec 2021
Development of Diagnostic Tools for Metastatic Melanoma via Imaging of Heparanase Activity
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: US ARMY MED RES ACQUISITION
Aug 2018
– Jul 2023
Probing the role of heparanase via in situ labeling
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIGMS
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow
2011-2014
·
Stanford University School of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow
2009-2010
·
University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D.
2008
·
University of Alberta
B.Sc.
2003
·
Nankai University
Contact Details
Phones:
- Business:
- (352) 273-7090
Emails:
- Business:
- linacui@ufl.edu
Addresses:
- Business Mailing:
-
PO Box 100485
GAINESVILLE FL 32610 - Business Street:
-
MSB P5-31
1345 Center Drive
GAINESVILLE FL 326103003