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School of Pharmacy

Staff listing for the Biomolecular Science and Medicinal Chemistry Division 

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Weng Chan

Professor of Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science

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Biography

I gained my PhD from the 糖心原创 in 1988 under the supervision of Professor Barrie Bycroft and Dr Ray Grout. This was followed by a period of postdoctoral training (1988-1992) under the guidance of Barrie Bycroft (Univ Nottingham), Gordon Roberts (Univ Leicester) and Mike Gasson (IFR, Norwich). In 1992, I was appointed to a lectureship at Nottingham, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2000 and to Reader in Chemical Biology in 2007. In 2020, I was promoted to Professor of Chemical Biology.

Since 1992, I have supervised over 50 PhD and MRes students who have successfully defended their theses. Over the same period, I have mentored over 10 postdoctoral fellows. A significant milestone in my career was the publication of my authoritative book 'Fmoc Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis: A Practical Approach' in 2000, which soon became an international 'Peptide Chemist Bible'. In 2006, I organised and chaired the first Merck Biosciences/RSC-sponsored mini-symposium on 'Chemistry and Biology of Peptides'.

In the field of peptide chemistry, I was instrumental in the development of a series of unique multi-functional/orthogonally protected chemical reagents, e.g. novel 4-azalysine analogues, which facilitated the construction of hybrid and complex peptides. The Dde-based chemistry and chemical toolkits, ranging from amine- (Bycroft et al 1993, 1994, Nash et al 1996) and carboxy-protecting groups (Chan et al 1995) to novel tagging reagents and pseudoaromatic amino acids (Middleton et al 2004), which are now widely used by the biomedical and chemical community, were discovered and further developed in my laboratory.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and was (in 2009) a Visiting Professor at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, FRANCE. I am a member of the editorial board for the journal, Frontiers in Bacteriology (), as Specialty Chief Editor for 'Emerging bacterial threats and their treatments'.

Teaching

Bacterial and Fungal Infection; Synthesis of Simple Drugs; Synthesis of Complex Drugs; Research Project

Research Summary

My research activities are primarily hypothesis driven, and take a multidisciplinary but yet integrative approach to the identification, construction and manipulation of molecules to address defined… read more

Recent Publications

  • ZAIDI, J.M., COMEO, E., BAXTER, A., PRESTON, A.G.S., CHAN, W.C. and STOCKS, M.J., 2025. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 16(4), 588-595
  • DUCA, S., PARVAR, S.J., KUMETA, L., BRADSHAW, T.D., CHAN, W.C., DE COGAN, F., DZIEMIDOWICZ, K., GERSHKOVICH, P., MARLOW, M., MORRIS, C.J., SHORTHOUSE, D. and LEWIS, A.L., 2025. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 226, 115695
  • BARDELANG, P., MURRAY, E.J., BLOWER, I., ZANDOMENEGHI, S., GOODE, A., HUSSAIN, R., KUMARI, D., SILIGARDI, G., INOUE, K., LUCKETT, J., DOUTCH, J., EMSLEY, J., CHAN, W.C., HILL, P., WILLIAMS, P. and BONEV, B.B., 2023. Frontiers in Chemistry. 11, 1113885
  • WILLIAMS, P., HILL, P., BONEV, B. and CHAN, W.C., 2023. Microbiology. 169(8), 001381

Current Research

My research activities are primarily hypothesis driven, and take a multidisciplinary but yet integrative approach to the identification, construction and manipulation of molecules to address defined biomedical objectives. A rational chemical design process is extensively applied for the production of novel macrocyclic peptides, peptidomimetics and low-molecular weight molecules.

These agents are used either as chemical tools to interrogate or to illuminate biomolecular interactions, or as lead drug candidates. The thematic areas in which this integrative chemical biology approach has been applied include: (i) Gram-positive pathogenicity; (ii) antimicrobials; and (iii) microbiome science.

As Principal Investigator, I - with Ingrid Dreveny, Tanya Monaghan (SoM), Brenda Wren and Lisa Dawson (LSHTM) - was awarded nearly 拢2M by MRC DPFS (2019-2023) to work on the translational programme 'LY256: a novel and potent antibiotic for treating Clostridioides difficile infection'. Studies on the translation of the macrocyclic antibiotic LY256 were also supported by several other grants - MRC Confidence-in-Concept (2016-2017); Hermes Award (2015-2016; 2020).

I am one of the key drivers of the MRC Programme Grants (2003-08; 2009-2014; 2016-2020 with Paul Williams), which ensures delivery of vital molecules in the context of modern medicinal chemistry. My pivotal contribution focuses on the discovery of novel chemical agents that attenuates staphylococcal infection by inhibiting the expression of virulence proteome. Importantly, a thorough structure-activity relationship studies led to the hypothesis of a two-site binding model for the interaction of S. aureus cognate activating-ligand AIP with AgrC. This work has recently expanded to the molecular and structural studies of the AgrC receptor and the multi-functional bioprocessing enzyme AgrB, as well as studies directed towards other important pathogens such as C. difficile.

ORCID

Web of science

Our recent minireview paper was highlighted as noteworthy in ChemistryViews

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy Editor's Choice:

Membership of Professional Bodies & Committees

  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Member of American Chemical Society
  • Member of the American Peptide Society
  • Member of Applied Microbiology International
  • ZAIDI, J.M., COMEO, E., BAXTER, A., PRESTON, A.G.S., CHAN, W.C. and STOCKS, M.J., 2025. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 16(4), 588-595
  • DUCA, S., PARVAR, S.J., KUMETA, L., BRADSHAW, T.D., CHAN, W.C., DE COGAN, F., DZIEMIDOWICZ, K., GERSHKOVICH, P., MARLOW, M., MORRIS, C.J., SHORTHOUSE, D. and LEWIS, A.L., 2025. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 226, 115695
  • BARDELANG, P., MURRAY, E.J., BLOWER, I., ZANDOMENEGHI, S., GOODE, A., HUSSAIN, R., KUMARI, D., SILIGARDI, G., INOUE, K., LUCKETT, J., DOUTCH, J., EMSLEY, J., CHAN, W.C., HILL, P., WILLIAMS, P. and BONEV, B.B., 2023. Frontiers in Chemistry. 11, 1113885
  • WILLIAMS, P., HILL, P., BONEV, B. and CHAN, W.C., 2023. Microbiology. 169(8), 001381
  • TAYLOR, M., SIMOES, F., SMITH, J., GENAPATHY, S., CANNING, A., LLEDOS, M., CHAN, W.C., DENNING, C., SCURR, D.J., STEVEN, R.T., SPENCER, S.J., SHARD, A.G., ALEXANDER, M.R. and ZELZER, M., 2022. Surface and Interface Analysis. 54(4), 417-432
  • MURRAY, E.J., DUBERN, J.-F., CHAN, W.C., CHHABRA, S.R. and WILLIAMS, P., 2022. Cell Chemical Biology. 29(7), 1187-1199
  • MONAGHAN, T.M., SEEKATZ, A.M., MULLISH, B.H., MOORE-GILLON, C.E.R., DAWSON, L., AHMED, A., KAO, D. and CHAN, W.C., 2021. Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets. 25(11), 949-963
  • TARANTINI, F.S., BRUNATI, M., TARAVELLA, A., CARRANO, L., PARENTI, F., HONG, K.W., WILLIAMS, P., CHAN, K.G., HEEB, S. and CHAN, W.C., 2021. PLoS ONE. 16(11), e0260413
  • CHAN, W.C., GENAPATHY, S. and YANG, L., 2021. Antibacterial compounds US 11,192,888 B2 12/07/2021 00:00:00
  • BLOWER, I., TONG, C., SUN, X., MURRAY, E., LUCKETT, J., CHAN, W.C., WILLIAMS, P. and HILL, P.J., 2020. Sensors. 20(15), 4305
  • SLOAN, T.J., MURRAY, E., YOKOYAMA, M., MASSEY, R.C., CHAN, W.C., BONEV, B.B. and WILLIAMS, P., 2019. Journal of Bacteriology. 201(20), e00409-19
  • NG, V., KUEHNE, S. A. and CHAN, W.C., 2018. Chemistry - A European Journal. 24(36), 9136-9147
  • CHAN, W.C., GENAPATHY, S. and YANG, L., 2018. Antibacterial compounds WO 2018/167506 A1 09/20/2018 00:00:00
  • ZAPOTOCZNA, M., MURRAY, E.J., HOGAN, S., O'GARA, J.P., CHHABRA, S.R., CHAN, W.C., O'NEILL, E. and WILLIAMS, P., 2017. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 72(3), 744-753
  • NG, V and CHAN, W.C., 2016. Chemistry - A European Journal. 22(36), 12606-12616
  • LAVADO, A.S., CHAUHAN, V.M., ALHAJ ZEN, A., GIUNTINI, F., JONES, D.R.E., BOYLE, R.W., BEEBY, A., CHAN, W.C. and AYLOTT, J.W., 2015. Nanoscale. 7(34), 14525-14531
  • MURRAY, E.J., CROWLEY, R.C., TRUMAN, A., CLARKE, S.R., COTTAM, J.A., JADHAV, G.P., STEELE, V.R., O'SHEA, P., LINDHOLM, C., COCKAYNE, A., CHHABRA, S.R., CHAN, W.C. and WILLIAMS, P., 2014. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 57(6), 2813-2819
  • ALHAJ ZEN, A., AYLOTT, J.W. and CHAN, W.C., 2014. Tetrahedron Letters. 55(40), 5521-5524
  • CHEN, C.-H., GENAPATHY, S., FISCHER, P.M. and CHAN, W.C., 2014. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. 12(48), 9764-9768
  • ABULATEEFEH, S.R., SPAIN, S.G., THURECHT, K.J., AYLOTT, J.W., CHAN, W.C., GARNETT, M.C. and ALEXANDER, C., 2013. Biomaterials Science. 1(4), 434-442
  • GORDON, CHRISTOPHER P., WILLIAMS, PAUL and CHAN, WENG C., 2013. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 56(4), 1389-1404
  • RUDKIN, J.K., EDWARDS, A.M., BOWDEN, M.G., BROWN, E.L., POZZI, C., WATERS, E.M., CHAN, W.C., WILLIAMS, P., O'GARA, J.P. and MASSEY, R.C., 2012. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 205(5), 798-806
  • FERNANDEZ, LETICIA, CHAN, WENG C., EGIDO, MERITXELL, GOMARA, MARIA J. and HARO, ISABEL, 2012. Journal of Peptide Science. 18(5), 326-335
  • SUKMAWATI, A., CHAN, W. C., GARNETT, M. C. and BUTTERY, L., 2012. Biodegradable microparticles for cell aggregation and proliferation JOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE. 6, 371-372
  • BYRNE, C., MCEWAN, P.A., EMSLEY, J., FISCHER, P.M. and CHAN, W.C., 2011. Chemical Communications. 47(9), 2589-2591
  • WELSER, KATHARINA, ADSLEY, ROSEMARY, MOORE, BERNADETTE M., CHAN, WENG C. and AYLOTT, JONATHAN W., 2011. Analyst. 136(1), 29-41
  • ABULATEEFEH, SAMER R., SPAIN, SEBASTIAN G., AYLOTT, JONATHAN W., CHAN, WENG C., GARNETT, MARTIN C. and ALEXANDER, CAMERON, 2011. Macromolecular Bioscience. 11(12), 1722-1734
  • COOKSLEY, CLARE M, DAVIS, IAN J, WINZER, KLAUS, CHAN, WENG C and PECK, MICHAEL W. AND MINTON, NIGEL P., 2010. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 76(13), 4448-4460
  • REZVANI, Z.N., MAYER, R.J. and CHAN, W.C., 2010. Chemical Communications. 46(12), 2043-2045
  • ABULATEEFEH, S.R., SAEED, A.O., AYLOTT, J.W., CHAN, W.C., GARNETT, M.C., SAUNDERS, B.R. and ALEXANDER, C., 2009. Chemical Communications. 2009(40), 6068-6070
  • WELSER, K., AYAL PERERA, M.D., AYLOTT, J.W. and CHAN, W.C., 2009. Chemical Communications. 2009(43), 6601-6603
  • WELSER, KATHARINA, GRILJ, JAKOB, VAUTHEY, ERIC, AYLOTT, JONATHAN W. and CHAN, WENG C., 2009. Chemical Communications. 671-673
  • JENSEN, R.O., WINZER, K., CLARKE, S.R., CHAN, W.C. and WILLIAMS, P., 2008. Journal of Molecular Biology. 381(2), 300-309
  • PARISOT, J., CAREY, S., BREUKINK, E., CHAN, W.C., NARBAD, A. and BONEV, B., 2008. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 52(2), 612-618
  • SANNA, MONICA, WHITE, PETER D and CHAN, WENG C, 2008. Tetrahedron Letters. 49(42), 6160-62
  • MAYER, JOHN R., CHAN, WENG C. and REZVANI, ZAHRA N., 2008. MEK5 and related proteins as biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases World Intellectual Property Organization WO 2008/132464-A2 11/01/2008 00:00:00
  • PARKHOUSE, SUSAN M, GARNETT, MARTIN C and CHAN, WENG C, 2008. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. 16(13), 6641-50
  • WILLIAMS, P., WINZER, K., CHAN, W.C. and CAMARA, M., 2007. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 362, 1119-1134
  • WARFIELD, RACHEL, BARDELANG, PHILIP, SAUNDERS, HELEN, CHAN, WENG C, PENFOLD, CHRISTOPHER, JAMES, RICHARD and THOMAS, NEIL R, 2006. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. 4(19), 3626-38
  • CHAN, W.C., HIGTON, A. and DAVIES, J.S., 2006. Amino acids. In: DAVIES, J.S., ed., Amino acids, Peptides and Proteins 35. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 1-73
  • PEREZ, T, ERCILLA, G, CHAN, W C and HARO, I, 2006. Journal of Peptide Science. 12(4), 267-78
  • SEDMAN, V.L., ALLEN, S., CHAN, W.C., DAVIES, M.C., ROBERTS, C.J., TENDLER, S.J.B. and WILLIAMS, P.M., 2005. Protein and Peptide Letters. 12(1), 79-83
  • GARDINER, L., COYLE, B.J, CHAN, W.C and SOULTANAS, P., 2005. Chemistry & Biology. 12(5), 595-604
  • SEDMAN, V.L., ALLEN, S., CHAN, W.C., KELLAM, B. and TENDLER S.J.B., 2005. Functionalizing human amylin (20-29) fibrils FEBS Journal. 272, 517-518
  • SEVILLE, LUCY L, SHAH, NITA, WESTWELL, ANDREW D and CHAN, WENG C, 2005. Current Cancer Drug Targets. 5(3), 159-70
  • ZHELEVA, D.L., FISCHER, P.M., MCINNES, C., ANDREWS, M.J.I., CHAN, W.C. and ATKINSON, G.E., 2005. Cyclin binding peptides, and their use in drug screening assays WO 2005/040802 A3 05/06/2005 00:00:00
  • CHAN, W.C., COYLE, B.J. and WILLIAMS, P., 2004. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 47(19), 4633-41
  • MIDDLETON,R.J., MELLOR,S.L., CHHABRA,S.R., BYCROFT,B.W. and CHAN,W.C., 2004. Tetrahedron Letters. 45(6), 1237-1242
  • SCOTT, R.J., LIAN, L.Y., MUHARRAM, S.H., COCKAYNE, A., WOOD, S.J., BYCROFT, B.W., WILLIAMS, P. and CHAN, W.C., 2003. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 13(15), 2449-53
  • HARO, I., P脡REZ, S., GARCIA, M., CHAN, W.C. and ERCILLA, G., 2003. FEBS Letters. 540(1-3), 133-140
  • CHHABRA, S.R., MAHAJAN, A. and CHAN, W.C., 2002. Journal of Organic Chemistry. 67(12), 4017-4029
  • ATKINSON, G.E., COWAN, A., MCINNES, C., ZHELEVA, D.I., FISCHER, P.M. and CHAN, W.C., 2002. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 12(18), 2501-2505
  • MCGUIRE, CAROLANN, CHAN, WENG C and WAKELIN, DEREK, 2002. Infection and Immunity. 70(12), 7149-52
  • CHAN, W.C., ATKINSON, G.E., COWAN, A., MCINNES, C. and FISCHER, P.M., 2002. p21(WAF1)-derived octapeptide inhibitors of CDK-cyclin complex: The effect of structural variants of the C-terminal Phe residue Journal of Peptide Science. 8, S146
  • CHAN, W.C. and HIGTON, A., 2002. Amino acids. In: Amino acids, Peptides and Proteins 33. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 1-82
  • QUIRK, R.A., CHAN, W.C., DAVIES, M.C., TENDLER, S.J.B. and SHAKESHEFF, K.M., 2001. Biomaterials. 22(8), 865-72
  • MCDOWELL, P., AFFAS, Z., REYNOLDS, C., HOLDEN, M.T.G., WOOD, S.J., SAINT, S., COCKAYNE, A., HILL, P.J., DODD, C.E.R., BYCROFT, B.W., CHAN, W.C. and WILLIAMS, P., 2001. Molecular Microbiology. 41(2), 503-512
  • QAZI, S.N.A., COUNIL, E., MORRISSEY, J., REES, C.E.D., COCKAYNE, A., WINZER, K., CHAN, W.C., WILLIAMS, P. and HILL, P.J., 2001. Infection and Immunity. 69(11), 7074-7082
  • CUNLIFFE, R.N., ROSE, F.R.A.J., KEYTE, J., ABBERLEY, L., CHAN, W.C. and MAHIDA, Y.R., 2001. Gut: Journal of the British Society of Gastroenterology. 48(2), 176-185
  • QUIRK, R.A., DAVIES, M.C., TENDLER, S.J.B., CHAN, W.C. and SHAKESHEFF, K.M., 2001. Langmuir. 17(9), 2817-2820
  • CHAN, W.C., MELLOR, S.L. and ATKINSON, G.E., 2001. N-Fmoc-aminooxy-2-chlorotrityl polystyrene resin for high throughput synthesis of hydroxamic acids Solid-phase Organic Syntheses. 1, 85-99
  • ATKINSON, G.E., FISCHER, P.M. and CHAN, W.C., 2000. Journal of Organic Chemistry. 65, 5048-5056
  • CHHABRA, S.R., CHAN, W.C. and MAHAJAN, A., 1999. Tetrahedron Letters. 40, 4909-4912
  • BYCROFT, B.W., WILLIAMS, P., STEWART, G.S.A.B., CHAN, W.C., MCDOWELL, P.W. and AFFAS, Z.M., 1999. Oligopeptides and their use as antibacterial agents against Staphylococcus aureus WO 99/26968 06/03/1999 00:00:00
  • CHAN, W.C., BYCROFT, B.W. and KELLAM, B., 1998. Tetrahedron. 54, 6817-6832
  • MAHIDA, Y.R., ROSE, F. and CHAN, W.C., 1997. Antimicrobial peptides in the gastrointestinal tract Gut. 40(2), 161-163
  • CHHABRA, S.R., BYCROFT, B.W., KELLAM, B. and CHAN, W.C., 1997. Tetrahedron Letters. 38, 5391-5394
  • MOLL, G N, CLARK, J, CHAN, W C, BYCROFT, B W, ROBERTS, G C, KONINGS, W N and DRIESSEN, A J, 1997. Role of transmembrane pH gradient and membrane binding in nisin pore formation. Journal of Bacteriology. 179(1), 135-40
  • CHAN, W.C., MELLOR, S.L. and MCGUIRE, C., 1997. Tetrahedron Letters. 38, 3311-3314
  • MELLOR, S.C. and CHAN, W.C., 1997. Chemical Communications. 2005-2006
  • CHAN, W C, LEYLAND, M, CLARK, J, DODD, H M, LIAN, L Y, GASSON, M J, BYCROFT, B W and ROBERTS, G C, 1996. FEBS Letters. 390(2), 129-32
  • ROBINSON, K, BELLABY, T, CHAN, W C and WAKELIN, D, 1995. High levels of protection induced by a 40-mer synthetic peptide vaccine against the intestinal nematode parasite Trichinella spiralis. Immunology. 86(4), 495-8

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