Can received his bachelor's degree from China Agricultural University in 2011 and earned his Ph.D. from the Institute of Biophysics, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2017. From October 2018 to April 2023, he conducted postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Bryan Roth at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In April 2023, he joined the School of Life Sciences and Medicine at the University of Science and Technology of China as an independent PI.
His lab is focused on the structure, pharmacology and drug discovery of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). The lab mainly utilizes structural information, drug screening, cellular functional assays, structure-inspired drug design, and animal experiments to discover novel modulators for immune and neuropsychiatric GPCRs.
Published Articles
1. Chunyu Wang, Yongfeng Liu, Marion Lanier, Adam Yeager, Isha Singh, Ryan H. Gumpper, Brian E. Krumm, Chelsea DeLeon, Shicheng Zhang, Marcus Boehm, Richard Pittner, Alain Baron, Lisa Dvorak, Corinne Bacon, Brian K. Shoichet, Esther Martinborough*, Jonathan F. Fay*, Can Cao*, Bryan L. Roth* (2024) Novel agonists reveal recognition motifs for the MRGPRD GPCR. Cell Reports (accepted)*corresponding author
2. Cao, C.#, Kang, H. J.#, Singh, I., Chen, H., Zhang, C., Ye, W., Hayes, B. W., Liu, J., Gumpper, R. H., Bender, B. J., Slocum, S. T., Krumm, B. E., Lansu, K., McCorvy, J. D., Kroeze, W. K., English, J. G., DiBerto, J. F., Olsen, R. H. J., Huang, X. P., Zhang, S., Liu, Y., Kim, K., Karpiak, J., Jan, L. Y., Abraham, S. N., Jin, J., Shoichet, B. K., Fay, J. F., & Roth, B. L. (2021). Structure, function and pharmacology of human itch GPCRs. Nature, 600(7887), 170-175.(#co-first author)
Highlighted by Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2021.12.005), Nature Chemical Biology (DOI: 10.1038/s41589-021-00959-4) and The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (DOI:10.1016/j.jaci.2022.01.017).
3. Chien, D. C.#, Limjunyawong, N.#, Cao, C.#, Meixiong, J., Peng, Q., Ho, C. Y., Fay, J. F., Roth, B. L., & Dong, X. (2024). MRGPRX4 mediates phospho-drug-associated pruritus in a humanized mouse model. Sci Transl Med, 16(746), eadk8198. (#co-first author)
4. Cao, C., Roth, B. L. (2023). The structure, function and pharmacology of MRGPRs. Trends in Parmacological Sciences, 44(4), 237-251. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2023.02.002
5. Cao, C. #, Barros-Alvarez, X. #, Zhang, S. #, Kim, K. #, Damgen, M. A., Panova, O., Suomivuori, C. M., Fay, J. F., Zhong, X., Krumm, B. E., Gumpper, R. H., Seven, A. B., Robertson, M. J., Krogan, N. J., Huttenhain, R., Nichols, D. E., Dror, R. O., Skiniotis, G., & Roth, B. L. (2022). Signaling snapshots of a serotonin receptor activated by the prototypical psychedelic LSD. Neuron.(#co-first author)
6. Liu, Y.#, Cao, C.#Huang, X. P., Gumpper, R.H., Rachman, M.M., Shih, S.L., Krumm, B.E., Zhang, S., Shoichet, B.K., Fay, J. F., & Roth, B. L. (2022). Ligand recognition and allosteric modulation of the human MRGPRX1 receptor.Nat Chem Biol, doi:10.1038/s41589-022-01173-6 (2022).(#co-first author)
7. Cao, C.#, Tan, Q.#, Xu, C., He, L., Yang, L., Zhou, Y., Zhou, Y., Qiao, A., Lu, M., Yi, C., Han, G. W., Wang, X., Li, X., Yang, H., Rao, Z., Jiang, H., Zhao, Y., Liu, J., Stevens, R. C., Zhao, Q., Zhang, X. C., & Wu, B. (2018). Structural basis for signal recognition and transduction by platelet-activating-factor receptor. Nat Struct Mol Biol, 25(6), 488-495.(#co-first author)
8. Cao, C., Zhang, H., Yang, Z., & Wu, B. (2018). Peptide recognition, signaling and modulation of class B G protein-coupled receptors. Curr Opin Struct Biol, 51, 53-60
9. Wang, C.#, Cao, C.#, Wang, N.#, Wang, X., Wang, X., & Zhang, X. C. (2020). Cryo-electron microscopy structure of human ABCB6 transporter. Protein Sci, 29(12), 2363-2374.(#co-first author)
10. de Graaf, C.#, Song, G. #, Cao, C. #, Zhao, Q., Wang, M. W., Wu, B., & Stevens, R. C. (2017). Extending the Structural View of Class B GPCRs. Trends Biochem Sci, 42(12), 946-960.(#co-first author)
11. Kim, Y., Gumpper, R. H., Liu, Y., Kocak, D. D., Xiong, Y., Cao, C., Deng, Z., Krumm, B. E., Jain, M. K., Zhang, S., Jin, J., & Roth, B. L. (2024). Bitter taste receptor activation by cholesterol and an intracellular tastant. Nature, 628(8008), 664-671
12. Zhou, Y., Cao, C., He, L., Wang, X., & Zhang, X. C. (2019). Crystal structure of dopamine receptor D4 bound to the subtype selective ligand, L745870. Elife, 8.
13. Zhang, S., Gumpper, R. H., Huang, X. P., Liu, Y., Krumm, B. E., Cao, C., Fay, J. F., & Roth, B. L. (2022). Molecular basis for selective activation of DREADD-based chemogenetics. Nature, 612(7939), 354-362.
14. Zhang, S., Chen, H., Zhang, C., Yang, Y., Popov, P., Liu, J., Krumm, B. E., Cao, C., Kim, K., Xiong, Y., Katritch, V., Shoichet, B. K., Jin, J., Fay, J. F., & Roth, B. L. (2022). Inactive and active state structures template selective tools for the human 5-HT5A receptor. Nat Struct Mol Biol, 29(7), 677-687.
15. Zhang, X. C., Zhou, Y., & Cao, C. (2018). Proton transfer during class-A GPCR activation: do the CWxP motif and the membrane potential act in concert? Biophysics Reports, 4(3), 115-122.
16. Zhang, H., Qiao, A., Yang, L., Van Eps, N., Frederiksen, K. S., Yang, D., Dai, A., Cai, X., Zhang, H., Yi, C., Cao, C., He, L., Yang, H., Lau, J., Ernst, O. P., Hanson, M. A., Stevens, R. C., Wang, M. W., Reedtz-Runge, S., Jiang, H., Zhao, Q., & Wu, B. (2018). Structure of the glucagon receptor in complex with a glucagon analogue. Nature, 553(7686), 106-110.
17. Zhang, X. C., Cao, C., Zhou, Y., & Zhao, Y. (2015). Proton transfer-mediated GPCR activation. Protein Cell, 6(1), 12-17
18. Zhang, X. C., Zhou, Y., & Cao, C. (2015). Thermodynamics of GPCR activation. Biophys Rep, 1, 115-119.
19.Zhang, X. C., Sun, K., Zhang, L., Li, X., & Cao, C. (2013). GPCR activation: protonation and membrane potential. Protein Cell, 4(10), 747-760.
Contact：
E-mail: caocan23@ustc.edu.cn