Shugeng Cao, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Professor Cao investigates natural products, especially those that target cancer, with research focusing on antibacterial and antifungal organisms, marine microorganisms, and herbal medicines.
Posted Aug. 9. 2024
Shugeng Cao is a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Professor Cao investigates natural products, especially those that target cancer, with research focusing on antibacterial and antifungal organisms, marine microorganisms, and herbal medicines. He has a particular fascination with small molecules and their biological functions.
Cao received his doctor of philosophy in chemistry from the National University of Singapore, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Harvard Medical School.
Professor Cao has worked with naturally derived compounds since his time as a graduate student. While at the National University of Singapore, he did his doctoral research on tropical plants collected from the island of Borneo. After his doctoral studies, he joined MerLion Pharmaceuticals where he studied biologically active compounds derived from bacteria, fungi, plant, and marine organisms.
From there Cao went on to join the Kingston Group at Virginia Tech, where he conducted assay-guided separation of compounds from tropical plants and marine organisms. Some of his research while there investigated therapy to curb toxic chemotherapy effects (this work was published in 2016 in the scientific journal Bioconjugate Chemistry).
His research at Virginia Tech led him to Harvard Medical School where he was the director of the Marcus Natural Product Lab.
In 2013, Cao was invited to work as an independent researcher at the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center in Honolulu. He worked at the center for two years before arriving at UH Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy in 2015. He received tenure in 2019. While now based at UH Hilo, he remains an associate member of the Cancer Biology Program at the UH Cancer Center.
In 2021, Cao received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities for his outstanding achievements in published research.
Cao Laboratory
At the Cao Laboratory at UH Hilo, the researcher and his teams, which include postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, and students at different levels, investigate the potential benefits of both native Hawaiian organisms and Asia-Pacific herbal medicine.
“The goal is to discover more biologically active compounds as drug leads for anticancer and antibiotic drug development from our unique natural sources in Hawaiʻi,” explains Cao.
This work has made notable contributions to the pharmaceutical community.
“Some compounds that I have studied have been developed as lead molecules by pharmaceutical companies,” he says. “Some compounds were investigated by biologists and pharmacologists because these molecules play critical roles as biological probes. Synthetic chemists also synthesized some of my compounds for SAR [structure-activity relationship] studies.”
Bioactive compounds in Hawaiʻi microorganisms
Similar to his previous work, Cao is now researching biologically active compounds derived from natural sources. Specifically, he and his research team are focusing on discovering new and bioactive compounds in microorganisms in Hawaiʻi. The focus is on finding new anticancer and antibacterial natural products from marine and terrestrial fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms.
“[We] collect samples of organisms such as Hawaiian plants, coral, and even sediment from the ocean,” he explains. The samples are then analyzed at the lab.
- Hawaii natural compounds are promising to reduce ovarian cancer deaths (Cancer, Biology, and Therapy, April 2016)
- Herqueilenone A, a unique rearranged benzoquinone-chromanone from the Hawaiian volcanic soil-associated fungal strain Penicillium herquei FT729 (Bioorganic Chemistry, Dec. 2020). The researchers discuss the potential protective benefits found from compounds in volcanic soil-associated fungi, including potential protection from acetaldehyde-induced damage in PC-12 cells.
- Hawaiian Plants with Beneficial Effects on Sleep, Anxiety, and Mood, etc. (Pharmaceuticals, Aug. 2023)
- Phytochemistry and Biological Studies of Endemic Hawaiian Plants (Journal of Molecular Medicine, Nov. 2023)
Traditional Asia-Pacific medicine
Cao is also researching traditional Asia-Pacific medicine, specifically the benefits of herbal medicine. Through this work, he and collaborative researchers hope to impact the slow-growing presence of natural medicine in mainstream pharmaceuticals.
In the lab, Cao and his teams work to identify the active molecules that are responsible for the contended medicinal benefits of traditionally used plants and herbs. In recent years, the researcher has been working with Asian-Pacific plants, identifying the active compounds in them and discussing their potential benefits.
In 2016, Cao and members of his lab published a study on the anti-inflammatory properties of compounds found in the Asia-Pacific plant Barleria lupulina. The lab found active compounds in the plant that are “consistent with its traditional use and reported success in reducing inflammation.”
- Anti-inflammatory activity of Barleria lupulina: Identification of active compounds that activate the Nrf2 cell defense pathway, organize cortical actin, reduce stress fibers, and improve cell junctions in microvascular endothelial cells (Ethnopharmacology, Dec. 2016).
Drug therapies for cancer
In his work as an associate with the UH Cancer Center, Cao and research team identified a rare bacterium that is active against certain cancers.
The bacterium, Lentzea flaviverrucosa, that produces petrichorin A, was discovered by Cao and co-investigators Chunshun Li and Xiaohua Wu, in collaboration with Joshua Blodgett of Washington University in St. Louis. The research team proved that petrichorin A is active against cancers such as ovarian cancer, fibrosarcoma, prostate cancer and T-cell leukemia.
“Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Hawaiʻi and nationally, after cardiovascular disease,” says Cao. “If petrichorin A were developed successfully, people in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific would benefit from our drug therapies.”
- Discovery of unusual dimeric piperazyl cyclopeptides encoded by a Lentzea flaviverrucosa DSM 44664 biosynthetic supercluster (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, March 2022).
Teaching and community outreach
Professor Cao says he takes pride in the work of his lab staff, especially his passionate students who work alongside him in his research. His lab creates a space for pharmacy undergraduate and graduate students to complete their research and excel in their desired fields. His lab is open to students of all levels and related majors.
Cao says the lab is connected to local high schools as well, with both teachers and students. “I have teachers contacting me asking for advice or research opportunities regarding their students,” he says.
He has trained two high school students interested in pharmaceutical research. “One student was even able to receive a co-publication,” Cao says. “I’m very proud of our ability to work with passionate students.”
Cao says local companies also have reached out to him for advice regarding their businesses in the plant industry, which he gladly shares. “They want to see things happening on the Big Island.”
Professor Cao encourages students and others with a passion for investigating pharmaceuticals to reach out to him.
“I understand the high workloads of many students, especially pharmacy students. But when students have the time, the Cao lab is open and ready for them.”
This research profile is based on a 2021 story by student Elena Espinoza at UH Hilo Stories, with updates on published research.
