Lih-Wen Deng

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy - PhD University of Cambridge (1996 — 2000)
• Bachelor of Science - BS National Taiwan University (1992.09 — 1996.09)
• High School Diploma Taipei First Girls' High School (1989 — 1992)

Companies

• Associate Professor National University of Singapore (2014)
• Assistant Professor National University of Singapore (2004 — 2013)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow Harvard University (2000 — 2003)

Research Interest

Our lab is interested in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanism in cancer development and developing novel targets for therapeutic cancer intervention.

Our current research areas are:

• Genomic instability and chromatin dynamics in cancer development
• Mechanisms of therapy resistance
• Therapeutic potential of targeting cancer metabolism and tumor microenvironment
• Cancer oxidative stress and glutathione homeostasis

Research Articles

• Peng L, Jiang J, Chen HN, Zhou L, Huang Z, Qin S, Jin P, Luo M, Li B, Shi J, Xie N, Deng LW, Liou YC, Nice EC, Huang C, Wei Y. Redox-sensitive cyclophilin A elicits chemoresistance through realigning cellular oxidative status in colorectal cancer. Cell Rep. 2021 Nov 30;37(9):110069.
  
• Loo SY, Toh LP, Xie WH, Pathak E, Tan W, Ma S, Lee MY, Shatishwaran S, Yeo JZZ, Yuan J, Ho YY, Peh EKL, Muniandy M, Torta F, Chan J, Tan TJ, Sim Y, Tan V, Tan B, Madhukumar P, Yong WS, Ong KW, Wong CY, Tan PH, Yap YS, Deng LW, Dent R, Foo R, Wenk MR, Lee SC, Ho YS, Lim EH, Tam WL. Fatty acid oxidation is a druggable gateway regulating cellular plasticity for driving metastasis in breast cancer. Sci Adv. 2021 Oct 8;7(41):eabh2443.
• Nin DS, Wujanto C, Tan TZ, Lim D, Damen JMA, Wu KY, Dai ZM, Lee ZW, Idres SB, Leong YH, Jha S, Ng JS, Low JJH, Chang SC, Tan DSP, Wu W, Choo BA, Deng LW. GAGE mediates radio resistance in cervical cancers via the regulation of chromatin accessibility. Cell Rep. 2021 Aug 31;36(9):109621.
• Liu C, Xie J, Wu W, Wang M, Chen W, Idres SB, Rong J, Deng LW, Khan SA, Wu J. Automated synthesis of prexasertib and derivatives enabled by continuous-flow solid-phase synthesis. Nat Chem. 2021 May;13(5):451-457.
• Ho YK, Woo JY, Tu GXE, Deng LW, Too HP. (2020) A highly efficient non-viral process for programming mesenchymal stem cells for gene directed enzyme prodrug cancer therapy. Sci Rep. 2020 Aug 31;10(1):14257.
• Yan J, Cheo HW, Teo WK, Shi X, Wu H, Idres SB, Deng LW, Wu J. (2020) A Radical Smiles Rearrangement Promoted by Neutral Eosin Y as a Direct Hydrogen Atom Transfer Photocatalyst. J Am Chem Soc. 142(26):11357-11362.
• Novera W, Lee ZW, Nin DS, Dai MZ, Binte Idres S, Wu H, Damen JMA, Tuan ZT, Sim AYL, Long YC, Wu W, Huang RY, Deng LW. (2020) Cysteine deprivation targets ovarian clear cell carcinoma via oxidative stress and iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis deficit. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2020 Apr 25. doi: 1089/ars.2019.7850.
• Nin DS, Idres SB, Song ZJ, Moore PK, Deng LW (2020) Biological Effects of Morpholin-4-Ium 4 Methoxyphenyl (Morpholino) Phosphinodithioate and Other Phosphorothioate-Based Hydrogen Sulfide Donors. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2020 Jan 10;32(2):145-158.
• Khattar E, Maung KZY, Chew CL, Ghosh A, Mok MMH, Lee P, Zhang J, Chor WHJ, Cildir G, Wang CQ, Mohd-Ismail NK, Chin DWL, Lee SC, Yang H, Shin YJ, Nam DH, Chen L, Kumar AP, Deng LW, Ikawa M, Gunaratne J, Osato M, Tergaonkar V. (2019) Rap1 regulates hematopoietic stem cell survival and affects oncogenesis and response to chemotherapy. Nat Commun. 2019 Dec 13;10(1):5349.
• Szmyd R, Niska-Blakie J, Diril MK, Renck Nunes, Tzelepis K, Lacroix A, van Hul N, Deng LW, Matos J, Dreesen O, Bisteau X, Kaldis P. (2019) Premature activation of Cdk1 leads to mitotic events in S phase and embryonic lethality. Oncogene. Oncogene. 2019 Feb;38(7):998-1018.
• Zhou P, Ding X, Wan X, Liu L, Yuan X, Zhang W, Hui X, Meng G, Xiao H, Li B, Zhong J, Hou F, Deng LW, Zhang Y. (2018) MLL5 suppresses antiviral innate immune response by facilitating STUB1-mediated RIG-I degradation. Nat Commun. 9(1):1243.
• Lee ZW, Teo XY, Song ZJ, Nin DS, Novera W, Choo BA, Dymock BW, Moore PK, Huang RY, Deng LW (2017) Intracellular Hyper-Acidification Potentiated by Hydrogen Sulfide Mediates Invasive and Therapy Resistant Cancer Cell Death. Front Pharmacol. 8:763.
• Rajagopalan D, Pandey AK, Xiuzhen MC, Lee KK, Hora S, Zhang Y, Chua BH, Kwok HS, Bhatia SS, Deng LW, Tenen DG, Kappei D, Jha S. (2017) TIP60 represses telomerase expression by inhibiting Sp1 binding to the TERT promoter. PLoS Pathog. 13(10):e1006681.
• Zhang XM, Novera W, Zhang Y, Deng LW (2017) MLL5 (KMT2E): structure, function, and clinical relevance. Cell Mol Life Sci. 74(13):2333-2344.
• Liang D, Bian JS, Deng LW and Huang D (2017) Cyclic polysulphide 1,2,4-trithiolane from stinky bean (Parkia speciosa seeds) is a slow releasing hydrogen sulphide (H2S) donor. Journal of Functional Foods, 35: 197-204
• Feng W, Novera W, Peh K, Neo D, Ramanujulu PM, Moore PK, Deng LW, Dymock BW. (2017) Discovery of medium ring thiophosphorus based heterocycles as antiproliferative agents. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. S0960-894X(16)31358-0.