Shengzhang Dong

About

Shengzhang Dong, PhD, MS, is an Assistant Scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, affiliated with the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. His research focuses on developing novel control strategies for mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria through the study of mosquito biology, genomics, and pathogen interactions. Dr. Dong's work involves mosquito genome editing, transgenic mosquitoes, and understanding mosquito-pathogen interactions to create sustainable vector control methods. He holds a PhD from Zhejiang University obtained in 2007, an MS from Anhui Agricultural University in 2004, and a BS from the same university in 2001. His research aims to address the global health challenge posed by mosquito-borne diseases, which cause over one million deaths annually. Dr. Dong's contributions include engineering broad-spectrum suppression of arboviruses in mosquitoes and exploring the molecular mechanisms of mosquito immunity and reproduction, with the ultimate goal of reducing disease transmission.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Immunology
• Virology
• Microbiology

Selected publications

• Glucose-mediated proliferation of a gut commensal bacterium promotes Plasmodium infection by increasing mosquito midgut pH

  Cell Reports · 2021-04-01 · 62 citations

  articleOpen access

  Plant-nectar-derived sugar is the major energy source for mosquitoes, but its influence on vector competence for malaria parasites remains unclear. Here, we show that Plasmodium berghei infection of Anopheles stephensi results in global metabolome changes, with the most significant impact on glucose metabolism. Feeding on glucose or trehalose (the main hemolymph sugars) renders the mosquito more susceptible to Plasmodium infection by alkalizing the mosquito midgut. The glucose/trehalose diets pr…

  PublisherDOI

• Prospects and Pitfalls: Next-Generation Tools to Control Mosquito-Transmitted Disease

  Annual Review of Microbiology · 2020-09-08 · 48 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Mosquito-transmitted diseases, including malaria and dengue, are a major threat to human health around the globe, affecting millions each year. A diverse array of next-generation tools has been designed to eliminate mosquito populations or to replace them with mosquitoes that are less capable of transmitting key pathogens. Many of these new approaches have been built on recent advances in CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing. These initiatives have driven the development of pathogen-resistant lines,…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Aedes aegypti Argonaute 2 controls arbovirus infection and host mortality

  Nature Communications · 2023-09-18 · 42 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Ae. aegypti mosquitoes transmit some of the most important human viral diseases that are responsible for a significant public health burden worldwide. The small interfering RNA (siRNA) pathway is considered the major antiviral defense system in insects. Here we show that siRNA pathway disruption by CRISPR/Cas9-based Ago2 knockout impaired the mosquitoes' ability to degrade arbovirus RNA leading to hyper-infection accompanied by cell lysis and tissue damage. Ago2 disruption impaired DNA repair me…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mosquito transgenesis for malaria control

  Trends in Parasitology · 2021-09-02 · 40 citations

  review1st author
  PublisherDOI

• Identification of anti-flaviviral drugs with mosquitocidal and anti-Zika virus activity in Aedes aegypti

  PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019-08-20 · 38 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging arbovirus belonging to the genus Flavivirus, is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. ZIKV infection can cause microcephaly of newborn babies and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. Because no licensed vaccine or specific antiviral treatment is available for ZIKV infection, the most commonly used approach to control the spread of ZIKV is suppression of the mosquito vector population. A novel proposed strategy to block arthropod virus (arbovirus) transmission is based on…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Cui Hu

  Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology

  47 shared

• Zhicheng Shen

  Hangzhou DAC Biotech (China)

  18 shared

• Gong‐Yin Ye

  Zhejiang University

  18 shared

• Alexander W. E. Franz

  University of Missouri

  16 shared

• Gong-Yin Ye

  Zhejiang University

  16 shared

• Gōngyín Yè

  16 shared

• Xiaoping Yu

  Chengdu University

  15 shared

• George Dimopoulos

  Johns Hopkins University

  13 shared

Education

• Ph.D, Entomology

  Zhejiang University

  2007

• Master, Biology

  Anhui Agricultural University

  2004

• Bachelor, Biology

  Anhui Agricultural University

  2001

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