University of Rhode Island · EngineeringDefensin Dynamics Lab
Liqun Zhang · Kingston, Rhode Island
Research Focus
The research lab led by Dr. Liqun Zhang at the University of Rhode Island focuses on understanding how natural antimicrobial peptides, particularly human beta defensins, combat bacteria. They investigate how these peptides disrupt bacterial membranes, which is essential for developing new drugs to fight antibiotic-resistant infections. The lab combines experimental techniques like solid-state NMR and molecular dynamics simulations to uncover the molecular mechanisms involved in this process.
antimicrobial peptidesbeta defensinsbacterial membranesantibiotic resistancebiophysics
Research Aims
5AIM 01Identify binding structures of hBD-2 and hBD-3 with bacterial lipid membranes
AIM 02Evaluate the antibacterial mechanism of hBD-3
AIM 03Compare the antimicrobial activities of hBD-2 and hBD-3
AIM 04Develop insights for novel therapeutic designs against infectious diseases
AIM 05Investigate the impact of membrane interactions on peptide efficacy.
Skills the Lab Values
solid-state NMRmolecular dynamics simulationactivity assayslipid membrane modelingprotein purification
Output against the department
Publications2,075top 1% of dept.1st of 278
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations77ktop 2% of dept.6th of 278
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.