Chenglong Li

Chenglong Li, Ph.D.

Professor And The Nicholas Bodor Professor In Drug Discovery

Department: Medicinal Chemistry
Business Phone: (352) 294-8510
Business Email: lic@ufl.edu

About Chenglong Li

Chenglong Li, Ph.D., obtained his B.Sc. in chemistry and M.Sc. in physical chemistry from Beijing University in 1985 and 1988, respectively. Following college, he worked at the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He came to the United States and obtained his Ph.D. in biophysics at Cornell University, New York in 2000. He spent five years in San Diego, California, working as a postdoc in structural biology at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (2000-2002) and as a research associate in computational chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI, 2002-2005). Starting August 1, 2005, he moved to Columbus, Ohio as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at the College of Pharmacy, the Ohio State University, and rose through the ranks to associate professor with tenure in 2011 and full professor in 2016. In August 2016, he was appointed as the Nicholas Bodor Professor in Drug Discovery and professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida.

Additional Positions:
Director
2020 – Current · NIH/NIGMS Chemistry-Biology Interface Predoctoral Training Program at the University of Florida
Associate Director for Drug Design
2020 – Current · The Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3)

Teaching Profile

Courses Taught
2020
PHA6971 Research for Master’s Thesis
2016-2022,2024-2025
PHA7979 Advanced Research
2017-2025
PHA7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2017-2018,2020-2024,2024
PHA6910 Supervised Research
2017-2020
PHA6905C Research Procedures in Medicinal Chemistry
2018-2025
PHA6935 Selected Topics in Pharmacy
2019
PHA7939 Journal Colloquy in Pharmacodynamics
2017-2019,2021-2024
PHA5787C Pt Care 5: Endo
2017-2018,2023
PHA5788C Patient Care 6
2018
CHM7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2018
GMS7979 Advanced Research
2018
GMS7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2018
CHM7979 Advanced Research
2018
MCB7979 Advanced Research
2018
CIS7979 Advanced Research
2021
CHM4910 Undergraduate Research
2021
PHA5787 Pharmacotherapy 5
2022-2024
PHA6467C Drug Design II
2023
PHA4913 Undergraduate Research in Medicinal Chemistry
2023-2025
PHA6185 Life Cycle of a Drug

Research Profile

Li’s scholarly interests range from organic chemistry, biochemistry, medicinal chemistry to physical chemistry, computational chemistry, molecular biophysics and pharmacology. His research focuses on molecular recognition, with a strong application to structure-based computer-aided drug design. He combines molecular simulation, synthetic chemistry, X-ray protein crystallography, thermodynamic measurements, cellular techniques and in vivo animal models to explore molecular interactions, especially protein-ligand interactions, at molecular, cellular and organismal levels. His current working projects include both computational method development and drug design applications, for example: 1) pioneering development of a novel Multiple Ligand Simultaneous Docking (MLSD) strategy, with great potential for Fragment-Based Drug Design (FBDD); 2) design and discovery of drugs targeting the IL-6/STAT3 inflammatory and oncogenic pathway for targeted therapy; 3) design and discovery of drugs targeting epigenetic histone arginine methylation enzymes, especially PRMT5; 4) design and discovery of drugs targeting specific nAChR and ASIC1 subtypes for drug addiction and neurodegenerative diseases; 5) design and discovery of “chemical chaperone” drugs targeting F508 NBD1 misfolding intermediates for potential cystic fibrosis therapy.

• h-index: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cpPZNU0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao • First-in-Class PRMT5-targeting epigenetic drug commercialization development licensing agreement • NIH DDNS (Drug Discovery for the Nervous System) study section regular membership

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

0000-0001-9460-3168

Publications

2024
Assessing the Performance of In silico Tools and Molecular Dynamics Simulations for Predicting Pharmacogenetic Variant Impact
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. [DOI] 10.1002/cpt.3348.
2024
Chloroformate-Mediated Ring Cleavage of Indole Alkaloids Leads to Re-engineered Antiplasmodial Agents
Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry. [DOI] 10.1039/d4ob00853g.
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
Development of Novel Indole-Based Covalent Inhibitors of TEAD as Potential Antiliver Cancer Agents
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 67(18):16270-16295 [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00925.
2024
Exploring Degradation of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Yes-Associated Protein Induced by Proteolysis TArgeting Chimeras
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 67(17):15168-15198 [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00815.
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
Rational Design of a Novel 6H-Benzo[c]chromen Series as Selective PI3Kα Inhibitors
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00992.
2023
Carbohydrate-Small Molecule Hybrids as Lead Compounds Targeting IL-6 Signaling
Molecules. 28(2) [DOI] 10.3390/molecules28020677. [PMID] 36677735.
2023
Oral IRAK-4 Inhibitor CA-4948 Is Blood-Brain Barrier Penetrant and Has Single-Agent Activity against CNS Lymphoma and Melanoma Brain Metastases
Clinical Cancer Research. 29(9):1751-1762 [DOI] 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-22-1682.
2023
SAR of L-ABBA analogs for GGT1 inhibitory activity and L-ABBA’s effect on plasma cysteine and GSH species
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 92 [DOI] 10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129406.
2022
Cryo-EM structure-based selection of computed ligand poses enables design of MTA-synergic PRMT5 inhibitors of better potency
Communications Biology. 5(1) [DOI] 10.1038/s42003-022-03991-9. [PMID] 36192627.
2022
Design and evaluation of novel analogs of 2-amino-4-boronobutanoic acid (ABBA) as inhibitors of human gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry. 73 [DOI] 10.1016/j.bmc.2022.116986. [PMID] 36208545.
2022
Diversity and Chemical Library Networks of Large Data Sets.
Journal of chemical information and modeling. 62(9):2186-2201 [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c01013. [PMID] 34723537.
2022
Liver regeneration and ethanol detoxification: A new link in YAP regulation of ALDH1A1 during alcohol-related hepatocyte damage.
FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 36(4) [DOI] 10.1096/fj.202101686R. [PMID] 35218575.
2022
Pharmacological inhibition and reversal of pancreatic acinar ductal metaplasia.
Cell death discovery. 8(1) [DOI] 10.1038/s41420-022-01165-4. [PMID] 36055991.
2022
Targeting Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 Suppresses Radiation-induced Neuroendocrine Differentiation and Sensitizes Prostate Cancer Cells to Radiation.
Molecular cancer therapeutics. 21(3):448-459 [DOI] 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-21-0103. [PMID] 35027481.
2021
A novel small molecule LLL12B inhibits STAT3 signaling and sensitizes ovarian cancer cell to paclitaxel and cisplatin
PLOS One. 16(4) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0240145. [PMID] 33909625.
2021
A STAT3 inhibitor ameliorates CNS autoimmunity by restoring Teff:Treg balance.
JCI insight. 6(4) [DOI] 10.1172/jci.insight.142376. [PMID] 33411696.
2021
Alleviation of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Remodeling and Heart Failure via IL-6/STAT3 Inhibition by Raloxifene.
Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity. 2021 [DOI] 10.1155/2021/6699054. [PMID] 33824698.
2021
Bazedoxifene exhibits anti-inflammation and anti-atherosclerotic effects via inhibition of IL-6/IL-6R/STAT3 signaling.
European journal of pharmacology. 893 [DOI] 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173822. [PMID] 33347820.
2021
Bifunctional Doscadenamides Activate Quorum Sensing in Gram-Negative Bacteria and Synergize with TRAIL to Induce Apoptosis in Cancer Cells.
Journal of natural products. 84(3):779-789 [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01003. [PMID] 33480689.
2021
Binding Mechanism between Acetylcholinesterase and Drugs Pazopanib and Lapatinib: Biochemical and Biophysical Studies.
ACS chemical neuroscience. 12(24):4500-4511 [DOI] 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00521. [PMID] 34808043.
2021
LLL12B, a small molecule STAT3 inhibitor, induces growth arrest, apoptosis, and enhances cisplatin-mediated cytotoxicity in medulloblastoma cells.
Scientific reports. 11(1) [DOI] 10.1038/s41598-021-85888-x. [PMID] 33753770.
2020
A Mechanism-Based Targeted Screen To Identify Epstein-Barr Virus-Directed Antiviral Agents.
Journal of virology. 94(21) [DOI] 10.1128/JVI.01179-20. [PMID] 32796077.
2020
Application of Quantum Computing to Biochemical Systems: A Look to the Future.
Frontiers in chemistry. 8 [DOI] 10.3389/fchem.2020.587143. [PMID] 33330375.
2020
Bazedoxifene Attenuates Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Formation via Downregulation of Interleukin-6/Glycoprotein 130/Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 Signaling Pathway in Apolipoprotein E-Knockout Mice.
Frontiers in pharmacology. 11 [DOI] 10.3389/fphar.2020.00392. [PMID] 32362823.
2020
Deep Learning in Drug Design: Protein-Ligand Binding Affinity Prediction.
IEEE/ACM transactions on computational biology and bioinformatics. PP [DOI] 10.1109/TCBB.2020.3046945.
2020
Feedback activation of EGFR is the main cause for STAT3 inhibition-irresponsiveness in pancreatic cancer cells.
Oncogene. 39(20):3997-4013 [DOI] 10.1038/s41388-020-1271-y. [PMID] 32242147.
2020
Inhibition of Interleukin-6/glycoprotein 130 signalling by Bazedoxifene ameliorates cardiac remodelling in pressure overload mice.
Journal of cellular and molecular medicine. 24(8):4748-4761 [DOI] 10.1111/jcmm.15147. [PMID] 32164044.
2020
LLY17, a novel small molecule STAT3 inhibitor induces apoptosis and suppresses cell migration and tumor growth in triple-negative breast cancer.
Breast cancer research and treatment. 181(1):31-41 [DOI] 10.1007/s10549-020-05613-6. [PMID] 32240456.
2020
Preventing Morphine-Seeking Behavior through the Re-Engineering of Vincamine’s Biological Activity.
Journal of medicinal chemistry. 63(10):5119-5138 [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01924. [PMID] 31913038.
2020
PRMT5 Cooperates with pICln to Function as a Master Epigenetic Activator of DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Genes.
iScience. 23(1) [DOI] 10.1016/j.isci.2019.100750. [PMID] 31884170.
2020
Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 Promotes pICln-Dependent Androgen Receptor Transcription in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.
Cancer research. 80(22):4904-4917 [DOI] 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-1228. [PMID] 32999000.
2020
Raloxifene inhibits IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway and protects against high-fat-induced atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice.
Life sciences. 261 [DOI] 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.118304. [PMID] 32828944.
2020
Ultrasensitive small molecule fluorogenic probe for human heparanase.
Chemical science. 12(1):239-246 [DOI] 10.1039/d0sc04872k. [PMID] 34163592.
2019
Bazedoxifene as a novel GP130 inhibitor for Colon Cancer therapy.
Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR. 38(1) [DOI] 10.1186/s13046-019-1072-8. [PMID] 30736824.
2019
Bazedoxifene exhibits growth suppressive activity by targeting interleukin-6/glycoprotein 130/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Cancer science. 110(3):950-961 [DOI] 10.1111/cas.13940. [PMID] 30648776.
2019
Fluorescence polarization assay for the identification and evaluation of inhibitors at YAP-TEAD protein-protein interface 3.
Analytical biochemistry. 586 [DOI] 10.1016/j.ab.2019.113413. [PMID] 31479631.
2019
Novel small molecule IL-6 inhibitor suppresses autoreactive Th17 development and promotes Treg development.
Clinical and experimental immunology. 196(2):215-225 [DOI] 10.1111/cei.13258. [PMID] 30615197.
2019
Targeting Upstream Kinases of STAT3 in Human Medulloblastoma Cells.
Current cancer drug targets. 19(7):571-582 [DOI] 10.2174/1568009618666181016165604. [PMID] 30332965.
2018
Blocking interleukin-6 signaling inhibits cell viability/proliferation, glycolysis, and colony forming activity of human medulloblastoma cells.
International journal of oncology. 52(2):571-578 [DOI] 10.3892/ijo.2017.4211. [PMID] 29207075.
2018
Discovery, Synthesis, Pharmacological Profiling, and Biological Characterization of Brintonamides A-E, Novel Dual Protease and GPCR Modulators from a Marine Cyanobacterium.
Journal of medicinal chemistry. 61(14):6364-6378 [DOI] 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00885. [PMID] 30015488.
2018
PRMT5 as a druggable target for glioblastoma therapy.
Neuro-oncology. 20(6):753-763 [DOI] 10.1093/neuonc/nox206. [PMID] 29106602.
2018
Ursolic acid prevents angiotensin II-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm in apolipoprotein E-knockout mice.
Atherosclerosis. 271:128-135 [DOI] 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2018.02.022. [PMID] 29499360.
2017
Engineering CRISPR-Cpf1 crRNAs and mRNAs to maximize genome editing efficiency.
Nature biomedical engineering. 1(5) [DOI] 10.1038/s41551-017-0066. [PMID] 28840077.
2017
Inhibition of Il-6/Stat3 Signaling in Human Cancer Cells Using Evista
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 491(1):159-165 [DOI] 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.07.067.
2017
Inhibition of Stat3 Signaling Pathway By Ursolic Acid Suppresses Growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
International Journal of Oncology. 51(2):555-562 [DOI] 10.3892/ijo.2017.4035.
2017
Low Active Loading of Cargo Into Engineered Extracellular Vesicles Results in Inefficient Mirna Mimic Delivery
Journal of extracellular vesicles. 6(1) [DOI] 10.1080/20013078.2017.1333882. [PMID] 28717424.
2017
PRMT5-Selective Inhibitors Suppress Inflammatory T Cell Responses and Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
The Journal of Immunology. 198(4):1439-1451 [DOI] 10.4049/jimmunol.1601702. [PMID] 28087667.
2017
Repositioning Bazedoxifene as a novel IL-6/GP130 signaling antagonist for human rhabdomyosarcoma therapy.
PloS one. 12(7) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0180297. [PMID] 28672024.
2017
Synthesis and biological evaluation of largazole zinc-binding group analogs.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry. 25(12):3077-3086 [DOI] 10.1016/j.bmc.2017.03.071. [PMID] 28416100.
2017
Ultrasound mediated delivery of oxygen and LLL12 loaded stimuli responsive microdroplets for the treatment of hypoxic cancer cells.
Scientific reports. 7 [DOI] 10.1038/srep44908. [PMID] 28322306.

Grants

Sep 2024 ACTIVE
AI-directed discovery of heparanase inhibitors
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDDK
Aug 2024 ACTIVE
Regulation of enteric norovirus infection by host-derived and microbiota-transformed bile acids
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIAID
Jul 2024 ACTIVE
Dual Inhibition of PARP and IL-6 as a Novel Therapeutic Approach for BRCA-Mutated Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: US ARMY MED RES ACQUISITION
Jun 2024 ACTIVE
Developing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Approaches to Identify and Optimize Small Molecule Medicines Targeting Oncogenic RNAs
Role: Co-Project Director/Principal Investigator
Funding: FL DEPT OF HLTH
Feb 2024 ACTIVE
Dual inhibition of PARP and STAT3 as a novel therapeutic approach for triple-negative breast cancer
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: UNIV OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE via NATL INST OF HLTH NCI
Sep 2023 ACTIVE
Mechanisms of Metal Ion Homeostasis of Oral Streptococci
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDCR
Jul 2023 ACTIVE
Developing YAP/TEAD Inhibitors for Novel Nash-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapeutics
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: US ARMY MED RES ACQUISITION
May 2023 ACTIVE
Development of high-affinity and selective ligands as a pharmacological tool for the Dopamine D4 receptor (D4R) subtype variants
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY via NATL INST OF HLTH NIDA
Aug 2022 ACTIVE
Integrative Multidisciplinary Discovery Platform to Unlock Marine Natural Products Therapeutic Opportunities
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIGMS
Feb 2022 ACTIVE
Computationally designed IL-10 mutants for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: US ARMY MED RES ACQUISITION
Jan 2022 – Jan 2023
HEC Bench Fee – Tahira Noor
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION PAKISTAN
Jan 2021 – Dec 2022
Artificial Intelligence Research Catalyst Fund
Role: Project Manager
Funding: UF RESEARCH
Jul 2020 ACTIVE
Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program at the University of Florida
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIGMS
Sep 2019 ACTIVE
Novel Targeted Anticancer Agents from Marine Cyanobacteria
Role: Other
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NCI
Sep 2019 – Aug 2023
QLCI-CG: Conceptualization of the Institute for Quantum Biology on Quantum Computers
Role: Co-Project Director/Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL SCIENCE FOU
Sep 2018 – Aug 2022
Mechanistic studies of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase inhibition: A novel approach to modulating serum levels of cysteine
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: UNIV OF OKLAHOMA NORMAN via NATL INST OF HLTH NIGMS
Jun 2017 – May 2023
Role and targeting of PRMT5 in prostate cancer
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: PURDUE UNIV via NATL INST OF HLTH NCI
Sep 2016 – Jan 2018
Repositioning Bazedoxifene as a novel IL-6/GP130 inhibitor for sarcoma therapy
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: UNIV OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK via NATL INST OF HLTH NCI
Aug 2016 – May 2021
A novel STAT3-selective inhibitor for medulloblastoma therapy
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: UNIV OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK via NATL INST OF HLTH NINDS
Aug 2016 – Apr 2019
Small molecule in vivo probe development targeting the IL-6/STAT3 pathway for potential multiple sclerosis therapy
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NINDS

Education

Ph.D.
2000 · Cornell University
M.Sc.
1988 · Beijing University
B.Sc.
1985 · Beijing University

Contact Details

Phones:
Business:
(352) 294-8510
Emails:
Business:
lic@ufl.edu
Addresses:
Business Mailing:
PO Box 100485
GAINESVILLE FL 32610
Business Street:
1345 Center Drive
MSB P6-31
GAINESVILLE FL 32610-3003