Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica

Research

Biomolecular NMR spectroscopy / Structural Biology / DNA repair and mutation

Degrees and Positions Held

• 1993 – 1999   Ph.D., Chemistry, The State University of New York, Stony Brook
• 1988 – 1992   Bachelor, Chemistry, Soochow University

• 2015 – present   Associate Research Specialist, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica
• 2012 – 2015   Assistant Research Specialist, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica
• 2005 – 2012   Assistant Research Specialist, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica
• 2003 – 2005   Staff Scientist, High-Field NMR Center, Academia Sinica
• 1999 – 2003   Research Associate, National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (NMRFAM), Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin at Madison, postdoctoral research.

Selected Publications

Serial crystallography captures dynamic control of sequential electron and proton transfer events in a flavoenzyme.  
Maestre-Reyna M, Yang CH, Nango E, Huang WC, Ngurah Putu EPG, Wu WJ, Wang PH, Franz-Badur S, Saft M, Emmerich HJ, Wu HY, Lee CC, Huang KF, Chang YK, Liao JH, Weng JH, Gad W, Chang CW, Pang AH, Sugahara M, Owada S, Hosokawa Y, Joti Y, Yamashita A, Tanaka R, Tanaka T, Luo F, Tono K, Hsu KC, Kiontke S, Schapiro I, Spadaccini R, Royant A, Yamamoto J, Iwata S, Essen LO*, Bessho Y*, Tsai MD* 
Nature chemistry (2022)

Enzymology and Dynamics by Cryogenic Electron Microscopy.  
Tsai MD*, Wu WJ, Ho MC 
Annual review of biophysics (2022)

Structural and biological insights into Klebsiella pneumoniae surface polysaccharide degradation by a bacteriophage K1 lyase: implications for clinical use.  
Tu IF, Lin TL, Yang FL, Lee IM, Tu WL, Liao JH, Ko TP, Wu WJ, Jan JT, Ho MR, Chou CY, Wang AH, Wu CY, Wang JT, Huang KF*, Wu SH* 
Journal of Biomedical Science (2022)

Identification of fidelity-governing factors in human recombinases DMC1 and RAD51 from cryo-EM structures.  
Luo SC, Yeh HY, Lan WH, Wu YM, Yang CH, Chang HY, Su GC, Lee CY, Wu WJ, Li HW, Ho MC*, Chi P*, Tsai MD*  
Nature Communications (2021)

Human DNA Polymerase μ Can Use a Noncanonical Mechanism for Multiple Mn2+-mediated Functions.  
Chang YK, Huang YP, Liu XX, Ko TP, Bessho Y, Kawano Y, Maestre-Reyna M, Wu WJ*, Tsai MD*  
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2019)

Regulatory cascade involving transcriptional and N-end rule pathways in rice under submergence.  
Lin CC, Chao YT, Chen WC, Ho HY, Chou MY, Li YR, Wu YL, Yang HA, Hsieh H, Lin CS, Wu FH, Chou SJ, Jen HC, Huang YH, Irene D, Wu WJ, Wu JL, Gibbs DJ, Ho MC, Shih MC  
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2019)

How DNA polymerases catalyze replication and repair with contrasting fidelity.  
Wu WJ, Yang W, Tsai MD  
Nature Reviews Chemistry (2017)

Structural Mechanism for the Fidelity Modulation of DNA Polymerase λ.  
Liu, M.-S., Tsai, H.-Y., Liu, X.-X., Ho, M.-C., Wu, W.-J.*, and Tsai, M.-D.*  
J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2016)

How a low-fidelity DNA polymerase chooses non-watson-crick from watson-crick incorporation.  
Wu WJ, Su MI, Wu JL, Kumar S, Lim LH, Wang CW, Nelissen FH, Chen MC, Doreleijers JF, Wijmenga SS, Tsai MD.  
J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2014)

Stereospecificity of the Reaction Catalyzed by Enoyl-CoA Hydratase.  
Wen-Jin Wu , Yuguo Feng , Xiang He , Hilary A. Hofstein , Daniel P. Raleigh , and Peter J. Tonge  
J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2000)

Publication List