2023/8-present  Associate Professor, Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection CAS

2021/6-2023/7   Associate Professor, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, CAS

2020/6-2020/5   Project Coordinator, (Post cross training), International Cooperation Department, STCSM

2014/12-2020/5  Associate Professor, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, CAS

2012/9-2014/12  Research Assistant, Associate Professor, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, CAS

2009/9-2012/8   Postdoc, the Unit of Viral Hepatitis, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, CAS

2008/7-2009/8   Research Assistant，State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University       

2005/9-2008/6   Ph.D.  Fudan University Shanghai Medical College 

2000/9-2003/6   M.S.  Tongji Medical College of HUST

1998/8-2000/8   Resident Physician Worker's Hospital of Wuhan Marine machinery Factory

1993/9-1998/6   B.S.  Xianning Medical College 

Associate editor in frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology (virus and host)  My Frontiers (frontiersin.org)

1. Exploration of the spectrum of lipid metabolism caused by flavivirus infection under different immune conditions;

2. Discovery of new drug targets against flavivirus and the underlying mechanism;

3. Study on the mechanism of the effect of posttranslational modification of RNA virus replicase on RNA replication.

Selected publications and patents

1.       Zhao F#, Xu Y#, Liu N#, Lv D, Chen Y, Liu Z, Jin X, Xiao M, Lavillette D, Zhong J, Bartenschlager R, Long G. Extracellular vesicles from Zika virus-infected cells display viral E protein that binds ZIKV-neutralizing antibodies to prevent infection enhancement. EMBO J. 2023 Feb 3:e112096. (^#Co-first author)

2.       Yongfen Xu# , Gang Long *, Jin Zhng * Discovery and research of hepatitis C virus—Thoughts from the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Chinese Science Bulletin, Volume 65, Issue 36: 4177-4182(2020) (^#First author)

3.       Tarbe M#, Dong W#, Hu G#, Xu Y#, Sun J, Grayo S, Chen X, Qin C, Zhao J, Liu L, Li X, Leng Q. Japanese Encephalitis Virus Vaccination Elicits Cross-Reactive HLA-Class I-Restricted CD8 T Cell Response Against Zika Virus Infection. Front Immunol. 2020 Sep 25;11:577546.  (^#Co-first author)

4.       Guo M, Ye L, Yu T, Han L, Li Q, Lou P, Gan T, Jin X, Xiao H, Meng G, Zhong J*, Xu Y*.IL-1β enhances anti-viral effect of IFN-α on HCV replication by negatively modulating ERK2 activation. ACS Infect Dis. 2020 May 18. (^*Corresponding author)

5.       Qi Y#,* Han L, Qi Y, Jin X, Zhang B, Niu J, Zhong J, Xu Y*. Anti-flavivirus activity of polyoxometalate. Antiviral Res. 2020 May 4;179:104813. (^*Corresponding author)

6.       Yang J#, Xu Y #, Yan Y, Li W, Zhao L, Dai Q, Li Y, Li S, Zhong J, Cao R, Zhong W. Small Molecule Inhibitor of ATPase Activity of HSP70 as a Broad-Spectrum Inhibitor against Flavivirus Infections. ACS Infect Dis. 2020 May 8;6(5):832-843. (^#Co-first author)

7.        Zhang W#, Xu Y#, Zhao F, Hu G, Tarbe M, Zhou S, Wang W, Zhang S, Zhang W, Xu Q, Shi L, Yuan F, Lin X, Sun J, Zhao J, Yang Y, Liang X, Zhong J, Long G, Qin C, Leng Q*, Tang H*. Pre-existing immunity to Japanese encephalitis virus protected pathogenesis of Zika virus infection in mice. Science Bulletin. 2020 March 15;65(5):402-409.  (^#Co-first author)

8.        Cao RY#, Xu YF#, Zhang TH, Yang JJ, Yuan Y, Hao P, Shi Y, Zhong J*, Zhong W*. Pediatric Drug Nitazoxanide: A Potential Choice for Control of Zika. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017 Feb 3;4(1):ofx009. (^#Co-first author)

9.        Xu Y#, Zhong J*. Innate immunity against hepatitis C virus. Curr Opin Immunol. 2016 Jun 28;42:98-104. Review. (^#First author)

10.     Chen W#, Xu Y#, Li H, Tao W, Xiang Y, Huang B, Niu J, Zhong J*, Meng G*. HCV Genomic RNA Activates the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Human Myeloid Cells. PLoS One. 2014 Jan 6;9(1):e84953. (^#Co-first author)

11.    Xu Y#, Li H#, Chen W#, Yao X, Xing Y, Wang X, Zhong J*, Meng G*. Mycoplasma hyorhinis Activates the NLRP3 Inflammasome and Promotes Migration and Invasion of Gastric Cancer Cells. PLoS One. 2013 Nov 6;8(11):e77955. (^#First author)

12.    Xu Y#, Hu Y#, Shi B, Zhang X, Wang J, Zhang Z, Shen F, Zhang Q, Sun S, Yuan Z*. HBsAg inhibits TLR9-mediated activation and IFN-alpha production in plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Mol Immunol. 2009 Aug; 46(13):2640-6. (^#First author)

13.    Zhang Y, Dai Y, Wang J, Xu Y, Li Z, Lu J, Xu Y, Zhong J, Ding SW, Li Y. Mouse circulating extracellular vesicles contain virus-derived siRNAs active in antiviral immunity. EMBO J. 2022 Jun 1;41(11):e109902.

14.     Tong Y, Shi G, Hu G, Hu X, Han L, Xie X, Xu Y, Zhang R, Sun J, Zhong J. Photo-catalyzed TiO2 inactivates pathogenic viruses by attacking viral genome. Chem Eng J. 2021 Feb 3:128788.

15.     Liang Y, Zhang G, Li Q, Han L, Hu X, Guo Y, Tao W, Zhao X, Guo M, Gan T, Tong Y, Xu Y, Zhou Z, Ding Q, Wei W, Zhong J. TRIM26 is a critical host factor for HCV replication and contributes to host tropism. Sci Adv. 2021 Jan 8;7(2):eabd9732.  

16.     Tong Y, Li Q, Li R, Xu Y, Pan Y, Niu J, Zhong J. A novel approach to display structural proteins of HCV quasispecies in patients reveals a key role of E2 HVR1 in viral evolution. J Virol. 2020 Jun 17:JVI.00622-20.

17.    Yi C, Xia J, He L,Ling Z, Wang X, Yan Y, Wang J, Zhao X, Fan W, Sun X, Zhang R, Ye S, Zhang R, Xu Y, Ma L, Zhang Y, Zhou H, Huang Z, Niu J, Long G, Lu J, Zhong J, Sun B. Junctional and somatic hypermutation-induced CX4C motif is critical for the recognition of a highly conserved epitope on HCV E2 by a human broadly neutralizing antibody. Cell Mol Immunol. 2020 Mar 31.

18.    Li Z, Yao F, Xue G, Xu Y, Niu J, Cui M, Wang H, Wu S, Lu A, Zhong J, Meng G. Antiviral effects of simeprevir on multiple viruses. Antiviral Res. 2019 Sep 26:104607.

19.    Guo M, Lu J, Gan T, Xiang X, Xu Y, Xie Q, Zhong J. Construction and characterization of Genotype-3 hepatitis C virus replicon revealed critical genotype-3-specific polymorphism for drug resistance and viral fitness. Antiviral Res. 2019 Sep 19;171:104612.

20.     Liang H, Tang J, Liu Z, Liu Y, Huang Y, Xu Y, Hao P, Yin Z, Zhong J, Ye L, Jin X, Wang H. ZIKV infection induces robust Th1-like Tfh cell and long-term protective antibody responses in immunocompetent mice. Nat Commun. 2019 Aug 27;10(1):3859.

21.     Yan Y, Wang X, Lou P, Hu Z, Qu P, Li D, Li Q, Xu Y, Niu J, He Y, Zhong J, Zhong H. A Nanoparticle-Based Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine With Enhanced Potency. J Infect Dis. 2020 Mar 28;221(8):1304-1314.

22.    Zhao Y, Cao X, Guo M, Wang X, Yu T, Ye L, Han L, Hei L, Tao W, Tong Y, Xu Y, Zhong J*. Neuralized E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase 3 is an inducible antiviral effector to inhibit HCV assembly by targeting viral E1 glycoprotein. J Virol. 2018 Aug 15. pii: JVI.01123-18.

23.     Zhao F, Xu Y, Lavillette D, Zhong J, Zou G, Long G*. Negligible contribution of M2634V substitution to ZIKVpathogenesis in AG6 mice revealed by a bacterial promoter activity reduced infectious clone. Sci Rep. 2018 Jul 12;8 (1):10491.

24.     Qu P, Zhang W, Li D, Zhang C, Liu Q, Zhang X, Wang X, Dai W, Xu Y, Leng Q, Zhong J, Jin X, Huang Z*. Insect cell-produced recombinant protein subunit vaccines protect against Zika virus infection. Antiviral Res. 2018 Apr 14; 154:97-103.  

25.     Wang H, Li Z, Niu J, Xu Y, Ma L, Lu A, Wang X, Qian Z, Huang Z, Jin X, Leng Q, Wang J, Zhong J, Sun B, Meng G*. Antiviral effects of ferric ammonium citrate. Cell Discov. 2018 Mar 27; 4:14.

26.     Li Q, Tong Y, Xu Y, Niu J, Zhong J*. Genetic Analysis of Serum-derived HCV Defective Genomes Revealed Novel Viral Cis-Elements for Virus Replication and Assembly. J Virol. 2018 Jan 24. pii: JVI.02182-17.

27.     Tao W, Gan T, Guo M, Xu Y, Zhong J*. Novel Stable Ebola Virus Minigenome Replicon Reveals Remarkable Stability of the Viral Genome. J Virol. 2017 Oct 27;91(22):e01316-17.

28.    Chen ZA, Bao MY, Xu YF, Zha RP, Shi HB, Chen TY, He XH*. Suppression of Human Liver Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion via the GABAA Receptor. Cancer Biol Med. 2012 Jun; 9(2):90-8.

29.    Bao M, Chen Z, Xu Y, Zhao Y, Zha R, Huang S, Liu L, Chen T, Li J, Tu H, He X*. Sphingosine kinase 1 promotes tumour cell migration and invasion via the S1P/EDG1 axis in hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver Int. 2012 Feb; 32(2):331-8. 

30.    Chen Z, Cheng Y, Xu Y, Liao J, Zhang X, Hu Y, Zhang Q, Wang J, Zhang Z, Shen F, Yuan Z*. Expression profiles and function of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of chronic hepatitis B patients. Clin Immunol. 2008 Sep;128(3):400-8. 

31.    Shouxin Li*, Rui Huang, Yongfen Xu, Xiaohui Wang, Wen Liu, Xiaomei Lei. B lymphocytes activity and the expression of toll like receptor 9 on peripheral blood nuclear cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Chinese Chin J Rheumatol, February 2006, Vol 10, No. 2

32.    Weiliang Zhu, Jin Zhong, Yi Shi, Yongfen Xu, Zhijian Xu, Zhengdan Zhu, Mingzhe Guo, Hao Song, Wenqian Duan, Qiang Shao, Liqing Ye, Application of NSF104 in preparation of medicine for anti-zika virus. Patent Authorization Number: ZL201710703223.8