The Ding Laboratory

Introduction:   

        The main research focus of the Ding laboratory is to develop and integrate chemical and functional genomic tools to study stem cell biology and regeneration. Over the past few years, we have constructed large combinatorial chemical libraries (>100,000 small molecules) and arrayed cDNA (>30,000 human and mouse genes) and RNAi (targeting over 16,000 human and mouse genes with more than three designed sequences per gene) libraries. Furthermore we have developed and implemented high throughput cellular screens of these libraries to identify small molecules and genes which can control stem cell fate in various systems  including (i). Self-renewal, as well as directed neuronal, cardiac and pancreatic differentiations of pluripotent mouse and human embryonic stem cells; (ii). Directed neuronal differentiation and subtype neuron specification of human and rodent neural stem cells; (iii). Directed differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells to osteogenic, adipogenic, chondrogenic and myogenic lineages; (iv). Functional proliferation of adult cardiomyocytes and islets/beta cells; (v). Cellular plasticity and dedifferentiation of lineage-restricted somatic cells; (vi). Developmental signaling pathways. Moreover, systemic biochemical and cellular studies, including detailed structure-activity-relationship (SAR) studies, affinity chromatography for target identification, genome-wide expression analysis using Affymetrix microarrays, and cDNA and/or RNAi complementation screens to map signaling pathways, are being used to characterize the molecular mechanism of these identified small molecules and genes. Those studies may ultimately facilitate the therapeutic application of stem cells and the development of small molecule drugs to stimulate tissue and organ regeneration in vivo.

         Sheng Ding did his undergraduate at California Institute of Technology with Drs. Grubbs,  Rees, Goddard, Myers and Chan. His work with Dr. Grubbs (2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) resulted in the "the second generation of Grubbs Catalyst", and work with Dr. Rees resulted in a 0.7 Å DNA structure. After he graduated from Caltech in 1999, he joined Dr. Peter Schultz lab at the Scripps Research Institute to conduct his Ph.D. studies, which opened up new avenues for developing future regenerative medicine. He then stayed and joined the faculty of the Chemistry and Cell Biology Departments at Scripps as an Assistant Professor in late 2003. In early 2007, Ding was promoted to Associate Professor.

A current curriculum vitae for Professor Ding is available.