Research Areas

RNA Therapeutics Delivery Platform Engineering

We are also exploring the use of macromolecular assemblies as RNA therapeutics delivery agents. We take advantage of structural biology and biophysical techniques to guide our design.

Tam NY, Wang X, Chan GCY, Kong WP, Chau WY, Fu X, Wong KY, Lung HL, Yu ZL*, Aik WS*. Development of a modular ribonucleoprotein complex as a general strategy to delivery RNAi therapeutics. Adv. Healthc. Mater. (2025) (Early View) https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202503281

Chemical and Structural Biology of RNA Modifying Proteins

We are intrigued by how proteins regulate genes on the RNA transcript level, especially through post-transcriptional modifications. In this area of research, we investigate how molecular machines that modify RNA using structural biology techniques such as protein crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy.

Simranjeet Kaur, Nok Yin Tam, Michael A McDonough*, Christopher J Schofield*, Wei Shen Aik*, Mechanisms of substrate recognition and N6-methyladenosine demethylation revealed by crystal structures of ALKBH5–RNA complexes, Nucleic Acids Research, 2022;, gkac195, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac195

Structural and Biochemical Investigations of Small GTPases

We are interested in studying how small GTPases function and how their clinical mutants lead to disease development. We use structural biology techniques to characterise small GTPases and biochemical methods to evaluate their enzymatic activities.

Figure adapted from:

Chau YY, Liang H, Tung WL, Hor CHH*, Aik WS*. Structural basis for Rab23 activation and a loss-of-function mutation in Carpenter syndrome. J. Biol. Chem. (2025), 301 (1), 108036.