Author

Zi W. Yao

University of California, San FranciscoORCID 0000-0003-1825-7472Unclaimed ORCID profile · follow to get notified of new preprints

Biology Disciplines

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Bioengineering· 2 Synthetic Biology· 1

Signature Assays, Organisms & Methods

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Research Focus:drug response / drug discovery· 3 Approach:experimental assay· 3 Assay:proteomics· 2 Research Focus:cancer & tumor microenvironment· 1 Research Focus:cell signaling & trafficking· 1 Organism:human· 1 Research Focus:perturbation response prediction· 1 Research Focus:protein design· 1

Frequent Co-Authors

Fangzhu ZhaoiD· 3 shared James A. WellsiD· 3 shared Kaan S. KumruiD· 3 shared Kevin K. LeungiD· 3 shared Trenton M. Peters-ClarkeiD· 3 shared Kun MiaoiD· 2 shared Snehal D. GanjaveiD· 2 shared Yun Zhang· 2 shared

Activity by Year

2025-2026 · peak 2/yr

Co-Author Collaboration Network

10 top collaborators · 43 mutual co-author links

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3 shared papersBioengineering

Fangzhu ZhaoORCID

Mutual co-authors in cluster

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3 papers

Recent·Most cited

BioengineeringbioRxivPreprintFeb 18, 2026

Targeted shedding of extracellular membrane proteins by induced protease recruitment

Zi W. Yao, Fangzhu Zhao, Kun Miao…·James A. Wells

This paper develops Shedders, bispecific antibodies that recruit ADAM10 to induce ectodomain shedding of cell surface proteins, demonstrating efficacy in depleting LAG-3 and identifying new targets for therapeutic intervention.

DOI 10.64898/2026.02.17.706468

humanproteomics

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Synthetic BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of SciencesPeer-reviewedJan 21, 2026

A cytokine receptor-targeting chimera (kineTAC) toolbox for expanding extracellular targeted protein degradation.

Kaan S. Kumru, Zi W. Yao, Brandon B. Holmes…·James A. Wells

The paper expands the kineTAC toolbox by creating 81 new cytokine receptor-targeting chimeras for cell-type-specific extracellular protein degradation.

8 citationstop 1%

protein structureexperimental assay

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BioengineeringbioRxivPreprintJun 6, 2025

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-targeting chimeras for membrane protein degradation and enhanced drug delivery

Fangzhu Zhao, Yan Wu, Kaitlin Schaefer…·James A. Wells

This paper develops LIPTACs, LDLR-targeting chimeras that enhance lysosomal delivery and cytotoxicity for cancer treatment by combining eTPD and ADC strategies.

4 citations

proteomicsexperimental assay

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