Hongwei Chu

Dr. Chu earned her Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from Dalian University of Technology and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), from September 2017 to July 2022. Since February 2023, she has been a Lecturer at the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University; since December 2023, she has also been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University. Dr. Chu currently serves as the Principal Investigator of multiple research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Department of Science and Technology of Hunan Province. She is also a Member of the First Committee of the Chromatography Specialty Committee, China Association for Instrumental Analysis (CAIA)), and a Member of the First Youth Working Committee of the Hunan Institute of Food Science and Technology (HIFST).

Her research focuses on three main areas:
(1) Functional exploration and mechanistic elucidation of traditional Chinese medicine monomers—investigating the antibacterial effects of cannabidiol through integrated proteomics and metabolomics approaches to provide theoretical support for the development of natural antibacterial agents (J. Proteomics, 2025, 315, 105411);
(2) Development and application of novel protein extraction methods—establishing a short-chain and long-chain ionic liquid-based stepwise extraction method for plant leaf proteins, applied to leaf proteomic analysis across multiple plant species (Anal. Chim. Acta, 2025, 1372, 344439); developing an ionic liquid TEAA-assisted NP-40 solvent system (i-TAN) for the extraction of cell membrane protein complexes (Anal. Chem., 2022, 94, 758-767; Carcinogenesis, 2021, 42, 753-761);
(3) Establishment of deep-coverage quantitative proteomic analysis methods—developing a mass spectrometry-based full-ion monitoring strategy for deep-coverage quantitative proteomics, which significantly improves the coverage and accuracy of low-abundance proteome quantification, and applying this method to the analysis of key proteins involved in hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis (Anal. Chem., 2022, 94, 6102-6111).

Selected publications:
1. Chunxue Gu, Shiyi Zhou, Huimin Gan, Yu Zhao, Jiatong Liu, Ming Ma#, Hongwei Chu#, Bo Chen, A stepwise ionic liquid extraction method for plant leaf protein extraction, Analytica Chimica Acta, 2025, 1372, 344439.
2. Huimei Zeng, Xingyao Wang, Jiyu Tang, Peina Liu, Shen Zhang, Hongwei Chu#, Bo Chen, Ming Ma#, Proteomic and metabolomic analyses reveal the antibacterial mechanism of Cannabidiol against gram-positive bacteria, Journal of Proteomics, 2025, 315, 105411.
3. Hongwei Chu, Qun Zhao, Ju Liu, Kaiguang Yang, Yanlei Wang, Jianhui Liu, Kun Zhang, Baofeng Zhao#, Hongyan He#, Yong Zheng, Shijun Zhong, Zhen Liang, Lihua Zhang#, Yukui Zhang, Ionic liquid-based extraction system for in-depth analysis of membrane protein complexes, Analytical Chemistry, 2022, 94, 758-767.
4. Hongwei Chu, Qun Zhao#, Yichu Shan, Shen Zhang, Zhigang Sui, Xiao Li, Fei Fang, Baofeng Zhao#, Shijun Zhong, Zhen Liang, Lihua Zhang#, Yukui Zhang, All-ion monitoring directed low-abundance protein quantification reveals CALB2 as a key promoter in hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis, Analytical Chemistry, 2022, 94, 6102-6111.
5. Hongwei Chu, Changqing Wu, Qun Zhao, Rui Sun, Kuo Yang, Baofeng Zhao#, Yang Liu, Zhen Liang, Shijun Zhong, Lihua Zhang#, Yukui Zhang, Quantitative proteomics identifies FOLR1 to drive sorafenib resistance via activating autophagy in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, Carcinogenesis, 42(5), 753-761, 2021.