Dr Kevin Chen

Research Officer

Institute for Molecular Bioscience

k.chen@imb.uq.edu.au

Dr Chen’s research aims to understand the molecular details of how phosphatases, kinases and their associated proteins regulate cell signaling and homeostasis.

In 2011, Dr Chen completed his PhD on structural studies of macrophage proteins in Professor Jennifer Martin’s laboratory at The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

In 2012, Dr Chen secured a postdoctoral research position at Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan) to work on the molecular insights of phosphatases and kinases interaction using the combination of X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering and chemical cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry.

In 2015, he also received the Outstanding Young Postdoctoral Research Award from the Biophysics Society of Republic of China (Taiwan).

In June 2016, Dr Chen joined Associate Professor Brett Collins’ group at IMB, where he is working to understand how lipid kinases and lipid-binding proteins are involved in the regulation of cellular membrane transport.

Researcher biography

Dr Chen's research aims to understand the molecular details of how phosphatases, kinases and their associated proteins regulate cell signaling and homeostasis.

In 2011, Dr Chen completed his PhD on structural studies of macrophage proteins in Professor Jennifer Martin's laboratory at The University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

In 2015, he also received the Outstanding Young Postdoctoral Research Award from the Biophysics Society of Republic of China (Taiwan).

In June 2016, Dr Chen joined Associate Professor Brett Collins' group at IMB, where he is working to understand how lipid kinases and lipid-binding proteins are involved in the regulation of cellular membrane transport.

Publications

Journal Articles (21)

Journal Articles

Simonetti, Boris, Guo, Qian, Giménez-Andrés, Manuel, Chen, Kai-En, Moody, Edmund R. R., Evans, Ashley J., Chandra, Mintu, Danson, Chris M., Williams, Tom A., Collins, Brett M. and Cullen, Peter J. (2022). SNX27–Retromer directly binds ESCPE-1 to transfer cargo proteins during endosomal recycling. PLoS Biology, 20 (4) e3001601, e3001601. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001601

Wu, Yue, Cui, Zhenling, Huang, Yen-Hua, de Veer, Simon J., Aralov, Andrey V., Guo, Zhong, Moradi, Shayli V., Hinton, Alexandra O., Deuis, Jennifer R., Guo, Shaodong, Chen, Kai-En, Collins, Brett M., Vetter, Irina, Herzig, Volker, Jones, Alun, Cooper, Matthew A., King, Glenn F., Craik, David J., Alexandrov, Kirill and Mureev, Sergey (2022). Towards a generic prototyping approach for therapeutically-relevant peptides and proteins in a cell-free translation system. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 260, 260. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27854-9

Chen, Kai-En, Guo, Qian, Hill, Timothy A., Cui, Yi, Kendall, Amy K., Yang, Zhe, Hall, Ryan J., Healy, Michael D., Sacharz, Joanna, Norwood, Suzanne J., Fonseka, Sachini, Xie, Boyang, Reid, Robert C., Leneva, Natalya, Parton, Robert G., Ghai, Rajesh, Stroud, David A., Fairlie, David P, Suga, Hiroaki, Jackson, Lauren P., Teasdale, Rohan D., Passioura, Toby and Collins, Brett M. (2021). De novo macrocyclic peptides for inhibiting, stabilizing, and probing the function of the retromer endosomal trafficking complex. Science Advances, 7 (49) eabg4007, eabg4007. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abg4007

Sharma, Gagan, Braga, Carolyne B., Chen, Kai-En, Jia, Xinying, Ramanujam, Venkatraman, Collins, Brett M., Rittner, Roberto and Mobli, Mehdi (2021). Structural basis for the binding of the cancer targeting scorpion toxin, ClTx, to the vascular endothelia growth factor receptor neuropilin-1. Current Research in Structural Biology, 3, 179-186. doi: 10.1016/j.crstbi.2021.07.003

Peleg, Yoav, Vincentelli, Renaud, Collins, Brett M., Chen, Kai-En, Livingstone, Emma K., Weeratunga, Saroja, Leneva, Natalya, Guo, Qian, Remans, Kim, Perez, Kathryn, Bjerga, Gro E K, Larsen, Øivind, Vaněk, Ondřej, Skořepa, Ondřej, Jacquemin, Sophie, Poterszman, Arnaud, Kjær, Svend, Christodoulou, Evangelos, Albeck, Shira, Dym, Orly, Ainbinder, Elena, Unger, Tamar, Schuetz, Anja, Matthes, Susann, Bader, Michael, de Marco, Ario, Storici, Paola, Semrau, Marta S., Stolt-Bergner, Peggy ... Fleishman, Sarel J. (2021). Community-wide experimental evaluation of the PROSS stability-design method. Journal of Molecular Biology, 433 (13) 166964, 166964. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.166964

Daly, James L., Simonetti, Boris, Klein, Katja, Chen, Kai-En, Williamson, Maia Kavanagh, Antón-Plágaro, Carlos, Shoemark, Deborah K., Simón-Gracia, Lorena, Bauer, Michael, Hollandi, Reka, Greber, Urs F., Horvath, Peter, Sessions, Richard B., Helenius, Ari, Hiscox, Julian A., Teesalu, Tambet, Matthews, David A., Davidson, Andrew D., Collins, Brett M., Cullen, Peter J. and Yamauchi, Yohei (2020). Neuropilin-1 is a host factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Science, 370 (6518), 861-865. doi: 10.1126/science.abd3072

Ugrankar, Rupali, Bowerman, Jade, Hariri, Hanaa, Chandra, Mintu, Chen, Kevin, Bossanyi, Marie-France, Datta, Sanchari, Rogers, Sean, Eckert, Kaitlyn M., Vale, Gonçalo, Victoria, Alexia, Fresquez, Joseph, McDonald, Jeffrey G., Jean, Steve, Collins, Brett M. and Henne, W. Mike (2019). Drosophila snazarus regulates a lipid droplet population at plasma membrane-droplet contacts in adipocytes. Developmental Cell, 50 (5), 557-572.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.07.021

Chen, Kai‐En, Healy, Michael D. and Collins, Brett M. (2019). Towards a molecular understanding of endosomal trafficking by Retromer and Retriever. Traffic, 20 (7) tra.12649, 465-478. doi: 10.1111/tra.12649

Chandra, Mintu, Chin, Yanni K.-Y., Mas, Caroline, Feathers, J. Ryan, Paul, Blessy, Datta, Sanchari, Chen, Kai-En, Jia, Xinying, Yang, Zhe, Norwood, Suzanne J., Mohanty, Biswaranjan, Bugarcic, Andrea, Teasdale, Rohan D., Henne, W. Mike, Mobli, Mehdi and Collins, Brett M. (2019). Classification of the human phox homology (PX) domains based on their phosphoinositide binding specificities. Nature Communications, 10 (1) 1528, 1528. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09355-y

Chen, Kai-En, Tillu, Vikas A., Chandra, Mintu and Collins, Brett M. (2018). Molecular basis for membrane recruitment by the PX and C2 domains of Class II Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase-C2α. Structure, 26 (12), 1612-1625.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2018.08.010

Healy, Michael D., Hospenthal, Manuela K., Hall, Ryan J., Chandra, Mintu, Chilton, Molly, Tillu, Vikas, Chen, Kai-En, Celligoi, Dion J., McDonald, Fiona J., Cullen, Peter J., Lott, J. Shaun, Collins, Brett M. and Ghai, Rajesh (2018). Structural insights into the architecture and membrane interactions of the conserved COMMD proteins. eLife, 7 e35898. doi: 10.7554/elife.35898

Chen, Kai-En, Li, Meng-Yen, Chou, Chia-Cheng, Ho, Meng-Ru, Chen, Guang-Chao, Meng, Tzu-Ching and Wang, Andrew H. -J. (2015). Substrate specificity and plasticity of FERM-containing protein tyrosine phosphatases. Structure, 23 (4), 653-664. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2015.01.017

Chen, Kai-En, Lin, Shu-Yu, Wu, Mei-Ju, Ho, Meng-Ru, Santhanam, Abirami, Chou, Chia-Cheng, Meng, Tzu-Ching and Wang, Andrew H. -J. (2014). Reciprocal allosteric regulation of p38γ and PTPN3 involves a PDZ domain-modulated complex formation. Science Signaling, 7 (347), ra98-ra98. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2005722

Meng, Tzu-Ching, Chen, Kai-En, Wang, Andrew H.-J. and Van Hook, Annalisa M. (2014). Science signaling podcast: 14 October 2014. Science Signaling, 7 (347), pc28-pc28. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2005939

Chen, Kai-En, Richards, Ayanthi A., Caradoc-Davies, Tom T., Vajjhala, Parimala R., Robin, Gautier, Lua, Linda H. L., Hill, Justine M., Schroder, Kate, Sweet, Matthew J., Kellie, Stuart, Kobe, Bostjan and Martin, Jennifer (2013). The structure of the caspase recruitment domain of BinCARD reveals that all three cysteines can be oxidized. Acta Crystallographica Section D: Biological Crystallography, 69 (5), 774-784. doi: 10.1107/S0907444913001558

Walden, Patricia M., Heras, Begona, Chen, Kai-En, Halili, Maria A., Rimmer, Kieran, Sharma, Pooja, Scanlon, Martin J. and Martin, Jennifer L. (2012). The 1.2 A resolution crystal structure of TcpG, the Vibrio cholerae DsbA disulfide-forming protein required for pilus and cholera-toxin production. Acta Crystallographica Section D-Biological Crystallography, 68 (10), 1290-1302. doi: 10.1107/S0907444912026388

Chen, Kai-En, Richards, Ayanthi A., Arrifin, Juliana K., Ross, Ian L., Sweet, Matthew J., Kellie, Stuart, Kobe, Bostjan and Martin, Jennifer L. (2012). The mammalian DUF59 protein Fam96a forms two distinct types of domain-swapped dimer. Acta Crystallographica Section D: Biological Crystallography, 68 (6), 637-648. doi: 10.1107/S0907444912006592

Christie, Michelle P., Whitten, Andrew E., King, Gordon J., Hu, Shu-Hong, Jarrott, Russell J., Chen, Kai-En, Duff, Anthony P., Callow, Philip, Collins, Brett M., James, David E. and Martin, Jennifer L. (2012). Low-resolution solution structures of Munc18: Syntaxin protein complexes indicate an open binding mode driven by the Syntaxin N-peptide. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (25), 9816-9821. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1116975109

Mas, Caroline, Chen, Kai-En, Brereton, Ian M., Martin, Jennifer L. and Hill, Justine M. (2012). Backbone resonance assignments of the monomeric DUF59 domain of human Fam96a. Biomolecular NMR Assignments, 7 (2), 117-120. doi: 10.1007/s12104-012-9390-1

King, Gordon J., Chen, Kai-En, Robin, Gautier, Forwood, Jade K., Heras, Begoña, Thakur, Anil S., Kobe, Bostjan, Blomberg, Simon P. and Martin, Jennifer L. (2009). Interaction between plate make and protein in protein crystallisation screening. PLoS One, 4 (11) e7851, x-x. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007851