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Yi Jin

Yi Jin

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6927-4371

  • G.023
    John Garside Building
    Manchester Institute of Biotechnology
    The University of Manchester
    131 Princess Street
    Manchester
    M1 7DN

    United Kingdom

  • MIB Stores, The Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, Drover Lane, off Sackville Street

    M1 6NG Manchester

    United Kingdom

Accepting PhD Students

Personal profile

Biography

Yi (金轶）had a First-Class Hons BSc degree in Chemistry and an MSc degree in Organic Chemistry after completing her Master's thesis on the synthesis of transition state analogue inhibitors of phosphoserine phosphatase and phosphopeptides in the group of Professor Yufen Zhao at Xiamen University, China. In 2008, she was awarded the Overseas Research Studentship (ORS) by the British Council to pursue a PhD under the supervision of Professors Jon Waltho and Mike Blackburn at the University of Sheffield, UK. During this period, she expanded the usage of metal fluoride complexes as mimics of the phosphoryl group in various key enzymes in cellular signal transduction in NMR and crystallography. She stayed in the same lab as a postdoc for two years, working on the strain catalysis of DNA repairing enzyme UNG using multi-dimensional NMR. In 2014, she joined the group of Prof. Gideon Davies, FRS, FMedSci, in York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL), University of York, working on various carbohydrate processing enzymes, including glycosyl hydrolases in sulfoglycolytic pathways, and using activity-based-probes to trap glucuronidases in action. In May 2017, she became a group leader in Chemical Biology at Cardiff University, allowing her to start her independent research group. In August 2021, she was appointed as a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB), The Univesity of Manchester. Yi is a 2024 RSC Horizon Prize awardee for her contribution as part of the team in developing an understanding of sulfosugar metabolism and the discovery of new enzymes and pathways of sulfur recycling. She is also named as a "2024 Rising Star" in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry by ACS Bio & Med Chem Au. She is also an Associate Editor for the journal Chemical Biology & Drug Design (Wiley) since 2025.

Her expertise in fluorine chemistry, structural biology and mechanistic enzymology enables her to drive transformative research into the enzymes and pathways involved in bacterial persistence and antibiotic resistance. Her research covers a wide range of techniques, including organic synthesis, chemical biology, molecular biology, microbiology, protein NMR, protein X-ray crystallography, and bioinformatics e.g. Enzyme Function Initiative - EFI tools.

Research interests

We perform mechanistic studies at molecular and atomistic levels to improve our understanding of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and human cancers, in order to inform drug discovery and design.

1. Advancing the fight against antibiotic resistance (targeting carbapenemases) and bacterial persistence (targeting O-antigen capsule polysaccharides) by conducting comprehensive investigations into the molecular mechanisms governing antibiotic ineffectiveness (Wellcome Trust funded)

References:

  • Q. Zhou*, P. Catalan*, H. Bell*, P. Baumann, R. Evans, J. Yang, Z. Zhang, D. Zappala, Y. Zhang, G. M. Blackburn, Y. He†, Y. Jin†. An Ion-Pair Induced Intermediate Complex Captured in Class D Carbapenemase Reveals Chloride Ion as a Janus Effector Modulating Activity. ACS Central Science 2023, 9, 2339–2349
  • A.J. Lander*, L.D. Mercado*, X. Li, I.M. Taily, B.L. Findlay†, Y. Jin†, L. YP Luk†. Roles of inter- and intramolecular tryptophan interactions in membrane-active proteins revealed by racemic protein crystallography. Comm. Chem., 2023, 6, DOI:10.1038/s42004-023-00953-y
  • Y. Zhang*, J. E. Lei, Y. He†, J. H. Yang, W. J. Wang, A. Wasey, J. R. Xu†, Y. Lin, H. M. Fan, G. Y. Jing, C. Zhang, Y. Jin. Label-free visualization of carbapenemase activity in living bacteria. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 57, 17120-17124
  • Q. Wang*, Y. He†, R. Lu, W. M. Wang, K. W. Yang†, H. M. Fan, Y.  Jin, G. M. Blackburn. Thermokinetic profile of NDM-1 and its inhibition by small carboxylic acids. Biosci. Rep. 2018, DOI: 10.1042/BSR20180244

2. Expanding the application of metal fluoride complexes and protein fluorine labelling as investigative tools in the study of phosphoryl transfer enzymes, with the objective of deepening our understanding of cancer biology (small G proteins, phosphatases, and kinases) and bacterial GTPases to inform drug discovery efforts

References:

  • P. Baumann*, Y. Jin†. Far-reaching Effects of Tyrosine64 Phosphorylation on Ras Revealed with BeF3– complexes. Comm. Chem., 2023 DOI:10.1038/s42004-024-01105-6
  • R. W. Molt Jr.*, E. Pellegrini*, Y. Jin†. A GAP-GTPase-GDP-Pi intermediate crystal structure analyzed by DFT shows GTP hydrolysis involves serial proton transfers. Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 8484-8488
  • Y. Jin*, R. W. Molt Jr.*, E. Pellegrini*, M. J. Cliff, M. W. Bowler, N. G. J. Richards†, G. M. Blackburn†, J. P. Waltho†. Assessing the influence of mutation on GTPase transition states using X-ray, 19F NMR, and DFT approaches. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 1-5
  • Y. Jin, R. W. Molt, Jr., G. M. Blackburn. Metal Fluorides: Tools for structural and computational analysis of phosphoryl transfer enzymes. Topics Curr. Chem. 2017, 375, 36
  • Y. Jin, J. P. Waltho, N. G. J. Richards, G. M. Blackburn. Metal Fluorides as analogs for studies on phosphoryl transfer enzymes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 4110-4128
  • Y. Jin*, R. W. Molt, Jr.*, J. P. Waltho†, N. G. J. Richards†, G. M. Blackburn†.  19F NMR and DFT Analysis reveal structural and electronic transition state features for RhoA-catalyzed GTP hydrolysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 3318-3322
  • Y. Jin*, D. Bhattasali*, E. Pellegrini*, S. M. Forget, N. J. Baxter, M. J. Cliff, M. W. Bowler, D. L. Jakeman†, G. M. Blackburn†, J. P. Waltho†. α-Fluorophosphonates reveal how a phosphomutase conserves transition state conformation over hexose recognition in its two-step reaction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2014, 111, 12384-12389
  • Y. Jin*, M. J. Cliff, N. J. Baxter, H. R. W. Dannatt, A. M. Hounslow, M. W. Bowler, G. M. Blackburn†, J. P. Waltho†. Charge-balanced metal fluoride complexes for protein kinase A with adenosine diphosphate and substrate peptide SP20. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 12242-12245

3. Investigating the metabolism and synthetic pathways of naturally occurring sulfonates, e.g. sulfoquinovose diacylglycerol (SQDG),  by marine, soil, and gut bacteria through characterising enzymes and defining their molecular mechanisms - In collaboration with Spencer Williams's Group, University of Melbourne, Bio21 Institute, Australia (jointly supervise two Dual-degree PhD students - Helen Barber and Luise Pallasdies)   

References:

  • M. Sharma*, P. Abayakoon*, R. Epa, Y. Jin, J. Lingford, T. Shimada, M. Nakano, A. Ishihama, J. Mui, E. Goddard-Borger†, G. Davies†, S. Williams†. Molecular basis of sulfosugar selectivity in sulfoglycolysis. ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 476-487 
  • M. Sharma*, P. Abayakoon*, J. Lingford, R. Epa, A. John, Y. Jin, E. Goddard-Borger†, G. Davies†, S. Williams†.  Dynamic structural changes accompany the production of dihydroxypropanesulfonate by sulfolactaldehyde reductase. ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 2826-2836 
  • A. Palika*, Y. Jin*, J. Lingford, M. Petricevic, A. John, E. Ryan, J. Mui, D. Pires, D. Ascher, G. J. Davies†, E. Goddard-Borger†, S. Williams†. Structural and biochemical insights into the function and evolution of sulfoquinovosidases.  ACS Cent. Sci. 2018, 4, 1266-1273 
  • P. Abayakoon*, J. P. Lingford, Y. Jin, C. Bengt, G. J. Davies, S. G. Yao, E. D. Goddard-Borger, S. J Williams†, Discovery and characterization of a sulfoquinovose mutarotase using kinetic analysis at equilibrium by exchange spectroscopy. Biochem.  J. 2018, 475, 1371–1383 
  • G. Speciale*, Y. Jin*, G. J. Davies†, S. J. Williams†, E. D. Goddard-Borger†. YihQ is a sulfoquinovosidase that cleaves sulfoquinovosyl diacylglyceride sulfolipids. Nat. Chem. Biol. 2016，12, 215-217 

My group

Jin Group Website is here.

Current members:

  • Dr Yi Jin 🇨🇳(Principal Investigator)
  • Dr Hannah Ryan 🇦🇺(PDRA, Wellcome Trust funded)
  • Sana Fairman 🇹🇹(PhD student, UoM funded)
  • Helen Barber 🇬🇧(PhD student, Manchester-Melbourne Dual Award)
  • Luise Pallasdies 🇷🇸(PhD student, Manchester-Melbourne Dual Award)
  • Zhuoyun Chen 🇨🇳(PhD student, CSC funded)
  • Dongxu Yuan 🇨🇳(PhD student)
  • Dingfan Xu 🇨🇳(PhD student, CSC funded)
  • Cayman Bhatti 🇬🇧 (MChem student)

Former members:

PDRAs

  • Dr Patrick Baumann 🇩🇪 (currently MSAT Biconjugates Process Expert, Lonza Group, Switzerland)
  • Dr Zhongyuan Li 🇨🇳 (visiting)
  • Dr Helen Bell 🇬🇧 (currently Senior Protein Scientist at Qkine, UK)
  • Dr Zuyan Wu 🇨🇳

PhD students

  • Dr Mochen Dong 🇨🇳
  • Dr Davide Zappalà 🇮🇹
  • Dr Patrick Baumann 🇩🇪  
  • Dr Sandra Jusu (visiting) 🇸🇱

Masters Students

  • Fei Kong 🇨🇳 MPhil Sept 2023 - Sept 2025
  • Wasima Choudhury 🇬🇧 MChem Sept 2023 - May 2024
  • Haitian Yu 🇨🇳 MSc  April 2023 - Aug 2023​
  • Declan Pearson ​​🇬🇧 MChem  Oct 2022 - Jun 2023​
  • Jing Wang 🇨🇳 MSc  April 2022 - Oct 2022, currently a research assistant at Westlake University
  • Truman Tucay 🇬🇧 MChem  Oct 2021 - Jun 2022, currently a Business Analyst at AstraZeneca
  • Timothy Cooper 🇬🇧 MSc  Jun 2021 - Sept 2021​
  • Callum Breeze 🇬🇧 MSc Jun 2021 - Sept 2021, currently a PhD candidate at Australian National University
  • Shriya Shah 🇬🇧MChem  Oct 2020 - Jun 2021, currently Scientist I at Reading Scientific Service Ltd.
  • Rebekah Cooke 🇬🇧MSc  Oct 2020 - May 2021, currently PhD candidate at Cardiff University
  • Jasper Richards 🇬🇧 MChem Oct 2019 - May 2020
  • Wenyu Zhang 🇨🇳 MSc Jun 2019 - Sept 2019
  • Charlotte Gunn 🇬🇧 MChem Oct 2018 - May 2019
  • Rhodri Evans 🇬🇧MChem Oct 2018 - May 2019, now PhD candidate at the University of Manchester, UK
  • Ben Jones 🇬🇧MChem Oct 2017- May 2018

Teaching

  • 2025 –           CHEM41411   Advanced Bioorganic Chemistry
  • 2022 –           CHEM20421  Fundamentals of Drug Discovery
  • 2021 – 2023 CHEM20412   Structure and Reactivity of Organic Molecules

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

2007 – present   Member of the Biochemical Society
2009 – present   Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
2018 – present   Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS)
2021 – present   Chartered Chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
2025 – present   Member of The International Chemical Biology (ICBS)

Supervision information

We are currently looking for creative and motivated MPhil, PhD and junior fellowship applicants and researchers with skills in organic chemistry, biochemistry, biophysical chemistry, microbiology, chemical biology and structural biology. You will have opportunities to work on a wide range of projects in the Jin Lab. 

If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch by sending an email to [email protected] with your academic CV and your one-page personal statement attached. Please also state your means of funding. The self-funded UK and overseas students are welcome.

Education/Academic qualification

Doctor of Philosophy, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Protein NMR and Enzymology), The University of Sheffield

Oct 2008 → Mar 2012

Master in Science, Organic Chemistry, Xiamen University

Sept 2005 → Aug 2008

Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, Xiamen University

Sept 2001 → Aug 2005

External positions

Evaluation committee member for French National Research Agency (ANR)

May 2025 → Oct 2025

Associate Editor, Chemical Biology and Drug Design

Jan 2025 → …

Visiting Associate Professor, Northwest University

2019 → …

Areas of expertise

  • QD Chemistry
  • Organic chemistry
  • 19F NMR
  • Protein Crystallography
  • Enzymology
  • Inhibitor design
  • Pathway engineering
  • Enzyme engineering
  • Chemical biology
  • Biotechnology
  • ITC
  • Mechanistic biochemistry

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Biotechnology
  • Global inequalities
  • Manchester Institute of Biotechnology

Keywords

  • GTPases/ATPases
  • Glycosciences
  • Host/pathogen interactions
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • DNA repair
  • Transition state analogue
  • Organosulfur metabolism

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    SDG 2 Zero Hunger
  3. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  4. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  5. SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
    SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
  6. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  7. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  8. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water
  9. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land
  10. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

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