School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Dr. Wei Shen Aik, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University
Talk Title: Insights from protein-RNA structural complexes on the catalytic mechanisms of RNA N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) erasers and RNAi therapeutics delivery

Date: 29 September 2025 (Monday)
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Venue: Mrs Chen Yang Foo Oi Telemedicine Centre, 2/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Shikang Liang

Biography

Wei Shen Aik is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University. He obtained a BA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, specialising in biochemistry. He then received his doctoral training in chemical biology at Prof. Christopher Schofield's laboratory at the University of Oxford. After his D.Phil. studies at Oxford, Wei Shen did a postdoctoral research in Structural Biology with Professor Liang Tong at Columbia University in the United States. He then joined Hong Kong Baptist University in 2019 as a group leader. Wei Shen’s laboratory combines structural biology and chemical biology to study RNA post-transcriptional modifications and design novel delivery methods for RNA therapeutics.

Abstract

RNA binding proteins play a wide ranging roles in gene regulation by engaging RNA at different stages of the RNA life cycle, such as post-transcriptional modification, RNA processing, and RNA degradation. My lab uses structural biology and chemical biology techniques to characterise RNA-binding and RNA-modifying proteins. Our recent work focuses on RNA N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A), a prevalent post-transcriptional modification on mRNA that can impact gene expression; and RNA interference for oncogene silencing. In this talk, I will discuss the catalytic mechanisms of two RNA m⁶A erasers (FTO and ALKBH5), both of which play important roles in gene regulation and disease development. I will also highlight the development of a modular protein-based RNAi therapeutics delivery platform inspired by my previous structural studies of the U7 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex (U7 snRNP). 

ALL ARE WELCOME.