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

Speaker: Anthony K.  L. Leung, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Talk Title: Targeting PARP Biology Beyond Cancer: Biomolecular Condensates, Infection, and Neurodegeneration

Date: 10 November 2025 (Monday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Mrs Chen Yang Foo Oi Telemedicine Centre, 2/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Michael Hӓusser

Biography

Dr. Anthony K. L. Leung is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with joint appointments in the School of Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Trained at Oxford, Dundee, and MIT, he leads a lab that pioneers technologies to study PARP biology and ADP-ribosylation across cancer, infection, and neurodegeneration, including the first enzymatic labeling method, ELTA, and the community resource ADPriboDB. He recently launched the school-wide Innovation Translation Council (serving 900+ faculty). Dr. Leung’s current translational work includes developing first-in-class coronavirus macrodomain inhibitors with support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. His honors include the Kleberg Foundation Medical Research Award, Johns Hopkins Catalyst and Discovery Awards, the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award, the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)–Gibco Emerging Leader Finalist recognition, and the Shikani/El-Hibri Prize. He has delivered 140+ invited seminars worldwide, including a keynote at the 2025 American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Annual Meeting.

Abstract

ADP-ribosylation, a reversible, nucleotide-like post-translational modification written by PARP enzymes, regulates gene expression, stress responses, and the formation of biomolecular condensates. While PARP inhibitors are approved for cancers with DNA-repair deficiencies (e.g., BRCA mutations), our work shows that ADP-ribosylation functions far beyond DNA repair, with key roles in cytoplasmic RNA metabolism, viral infection, and neurodegeneration. Using single-molecule assays, live-cell imaging, and quantitative proteomics developed in our lab, we find that poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) potently—even at substoichiometric levels—triggers protein condensation in vitro and enriches membraneless assemblies in cells, including stress granules and DNA-repair foci. Stress granules, which sequester translation factors, are actively targeted by RNA viruses such as coronaviruses and alphaviruses; these pandemic-causing pathogens encode ADP-ribose–removing enzymes (viral macrodomains) that disassemble granules and redirect translation toward viral protein synthesis. Together, these findings position ADP-ribosylation as a targetable pathway beyond oncology—opening strategies to tune PARP activity, inhibit viral hydrolases, and modulate PAR-dependent condensates with implications for infection and neurodegenerative disease.

ALL ARE WELCOME.