Zijian Guo was born in Hebei, China in 1961. He received his PhD degree from the University of Padova and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Birkbeck College, the University of London. He worked also as a research associate at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Nanjing University as a professor of chemistry in 1999, where he served as the director of the State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry from 2000 to 2009 and the dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from 2006 to 2014. He is currently the Changjiang professor in the same school. He was elected to the fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017.

1989 - 1994, University of Padua, Italy, PhD in Chemistry

1994 - 1996, University of London, UK, Post-doctoral Research Fellow

1996 - 1999, University of Edinburgh, UK, Research Associate

1999 - Now, Nanjing University, China, Professor of Chemistry

Given the importance of metals in biology and in the development of modern chemotherapeutic agents, the major research interest of Dr. Guo’s lab focuses on the chemical biology of metals and metallodrugs. In the last two decades or so, he has been working on the design and application of fluorescent sensors for biological metals such as zinc, copper and iron, etc. Visible light excitable and ratiometric metal sensors have been constructed based on a number of design strategies. Localization and intracellular distribution of metal species can be tracked using sensors of different emission wavelengths in combination with fluorescent microscopic techniques. He has also been focusing on the understanding of mechanism of action of platinum anticancer drugs and the development of anti-tumor active metal complexes with novel structural features. Multi-nuclear platinum(II) complexes with novel DNA binding ability, platinum(II)/(IV) complexes with tissue and organelle-targeting abilities have been designed. Approaches towards the targeted delivery of clinically-used anticancer platinum drugs have been adopted including the use of native ferritin, superparamagnetic iron nanoparticles, and stimuli-responsive biodegradable nanomaterials.

Recent Reviews:

1) X.Y. Wang, Z.J. Guo, Targeting and delivery of platinum-based anticancer drugs, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 202-224.

2) Z.P. Liu, W.J. He, Z.J. Guo, Metal coordination in photoluminescent sensing, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 1568-1600.

3) N. Muhammad, Z.J. Guo, Metal-based anticancer chemotherapeutic agents, Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol., 2014, 19, 144-153.

4) X.Y. Wang, X.H. Wang, Z.J. Guo,Functionalization of Platinum Complexes for Biomedical Applications Acc. Chem. Res. 2015, 48, 2622−2631.

5) Y.C. Chen, Y. Bai, Z. Han, W.J. He, Z.J. Guo, Photoluminescence imaging of Zn²⁺ in living systems, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 4517-4546.

6) X.H. Wang, X.Y. Wang, S.X. Jin, N. Muhammad, Z.J. Guo, Stimuli-Responsive Therapeutic Metallodrugs, Chem. Rev., 2019, 119, 1138-1192.

Recent Research Articles:

1) Z.Z. Zhu, X.Y. Wang, T.J. Li, S. Aime, P.J. Sadler, Z.J Guo,Platinum(II)–Gadolinium(III) Complexes as Potential Single-Molecular Theranostic Agents for Cancer Treatment, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 53, 13225-13228.

2) H.C. Chen, J.W. Tian, W.J. He, Z.J. Guo,H₂O₂‑Activatable and O₂‑Evolving Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient and Selective Photodynamic Therapy against Hypoxic Tumor Cells J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137, 1539-1547.

3) Z.Z. Zhu, Z.H. Wang, Y.G. Hao, C.C. Zhu, Y. Jiao, H.C. Chen, Y.M. Wang, J. Yan, Z.J. Guo, X.Y. Wang, Glutathione boosting the cytotoxicity of a magnetic platinum(IV) nano-prodrug in tumor cells, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 2864–2869.

4) K. Wang, C.C. Zhu, Y.F. He, Z.Q. Zhang, W. Zhou, N. Muhammad, Y. Guo, X.Y. Wang, Z.J. Guo, Restraining Cancer Cells by Dual MetabolicInhibition with aMitochondrion-Targeted Platinum(II) Complex, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.,2019, 58, 4638-4643.

5) Z.Z. Zhu, Z.H. Wang, C.L. Zhang, Y.J. Wang, H.M. Zhang, Z.J. Gan, Z.J. Guo, X.Y. Wang, Mitochondrion-targeted platinum complexes suppressing lung cancer through multiple pathways involving energy metabolism, Chem. Sci., 2019, 10, 3089-3095.

6) X.L. Xue, C.G. Qian, H.B. Fang, H.K. Liu, H. Yuan, Z.J. Guo, Y. Bai, W.J. He, Photoactivated Lysosomal Escape of a Monofunctional Pt-II Complex Pt-BDPA for Nucleus Access, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 12661-12666.

7) Z.Y. Chen, X.L. Mu, Z. Han, S.P. Yang, C.L. Zhang, Z.J. Guo, Y. Bai, W.J. He, An Optical/Photoacoustic Dual-Modality Probe: Ratiometric in/ex Vivo Imaging for Stimulated H2S Upregulation in Mice, J. Am. Chem. Soc.,2019, 141, 17973−17977.