Part 1 Basic Information

Name: Mengjie Rui

Address: School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, No. 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China

Office: Room 2213, School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University

Email: mjrui@ujs.edu.cn

Part 2 Personal Profile

Dr. Mengjie Rui is an Associate Professor and graduate supervisor in the Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research combines pharmaceutics, biomedical engineering, and artificial intelligence to connect molecular design with drug delivery and experimental validation. His interests include the design of therapeutic peptides and small molecules, prediction of drug–target interactions and synergistic drug combinations, computational formulation optimization, and the development of biomimetic and stimuli-responsive nanomedicines. These approaches are applied to cancer therapy, immunotherapy, osteoarthritis, and modern formulations of multi-component traditional Chinese medicines. His work spans biomimetic lipoprotein carriers for drug and nucleic acid delivery, tumor-responsive therapeutic peptides, and combination treatment strategies. He has served as principal investigator on projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, including its Young Scientists and General Programs. His research has been published in journals including Drug Delivery and Molecular Pharmaceutics.

Part 3 Education

2008.09–2012.12 | School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University | Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (Supervisor: Prof. Yuhong Xu)

2004.09–2008.06 | School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University | B.Eng. in Bioengineering

Part 4 Work Experience

2017.05–Present | Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University | Associate Professor

2013.03–2017.04 | Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University | Lecturer

Part 5 Research Interests

1. AI-Assisted Drug Discovery and Computational Pharmaceutics. Machine learning, deep learning, and molecular simulation for drug–target interactions, drug synergy, candidate prioritization, and formulation and process optimization.

2. Therapeutic Peptides and Cancer Immunotherapy. Design of peptide and small-molecule inhibitors targeting PD-1/PD-L1, Notch/RBPJ, and related pathways, together with tumor-activated oncolytic and immunomodulatory peptides.

3. Biomimetic and Stimuli-Responsive Nanomedicine. Biomimetic lipoproteins, lipodisks, liposomes, multivesicular liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, and polymersomes for precision co-delivery of peptides, nucleic acids, small molecules, and multi-component therapeutics.

4. Combination Therapy and Modern Multi-Component TCM Formulations. Computational identification of synergistic combinations and ratios, mechanistic validation, and formulation strategies for traditional Chinese medicine-derived active components.

Part 6 Research Achievements

6.1 Research Projects

1. 2018.07–2021.06 | General Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20181445) | Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province | Principal Investigator

2. 2015.01–2017.12 | Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81402880) | National Natural Science Foundation of China | Principal Investigator

3. 2014.07–2020.06 | Research Start-up Fund for High-Level Talents of Jiangsu University (Grant No. 14JDG163) | Jiangsu University | Principal Investigator

4. 2013.07–2016.07 | Young Scientists Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20130541) | Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province | Principal Investigator

5. 2012.01–2014.12 | Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81102395) | National Natural Science Foundation of China | Participant

6.2 Publications

Journal Articles

[1] RUI M, FANG L, JIA M, et al. Tumor microenvironment-responsive conformational activation of apoA-I mimetic peptides for targeted cancer therapy[J]. Drug Delivery, 2026, 33(1): 2604086. DOI: 10.1080/10717544.2025.2604086.

[2] RUI M, TANG H, GAO L, et al. pH-responsive polymeric nanoparticles for peptide delivery: Synergistic STING pathway activation enhances tumor immunotherapy[J]. International Journal of Pharmaceutics X, 2025, 10: 100412. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpx.2025.100412.

[3] RUI M, WANG L, MI K, et al. Co-delivery of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents via polymersomes for osteoarthritis therapy[J]. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2025, 16: 1635761. DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1635761.

[4] RUI M, SU Y, TANG H, et al. Computational Design and Optimization of Multi-Compound Multivesicular Liposomes for Co-Delivery of Traditional Chinese Medicine Compounds[J]. AAPS PharmSciTech, 2025, 26(2): 61. DOI: 10.1208/s12249-025-03042-6.

[5] FENG C, CHENG J, SUN M, QIAO C, FENG Q, FANG N, GE Y, RUI M. Artificial intelligence-driven identification and mechanistic exploration of synergistic anti-breast cancer compound combinations from Prunella vulgaris L.-Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz. herb pair[J]. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2025, 15: 1522787. DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1522787.

[6] JI W, SHE S, QIAO C, FENG Q, RUI M, XU X, FENG C. A general prediction model for compound-protein interactions based on deep learning[J]. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2024, 15: 1465890. DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1465890.

[7] RUI M, ZHANG W, MI K, et al. Design and evaluation of α-helix-based peptide inhibitors for blocking PD-1/PD-L1 interaction[J]. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2023, 253(Pt 2): 126811. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126811.

[8] SHE S, CHEN H, JI W, SUN M, CHENG J, RUI M, FENG C. Deep learning-based multi-drug synergy prediction model for individually tailored anti-cancer therapies[J]. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2022, 13: 1032875. DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1032875.

[9] RUI M, CAI M, ZHOU Y, et al. Identification of Potential RBPJ-Specific Inhibitors for Blocking Notch Signaling in Breast Cancer Using a Drug Repurposing Strategy[J]. Pharmaceuticals, 2022, 15(5): 556. DOI: 10.3390/ph15050556.

[10] RUI M, PANG H, JI W, et al. Development of simultaneous interaction prediction approach (SiPA) for the expansion of interaction network of traditional Chinese medicine[J]. Chinese Medicine, 2020, 15: 90. DOI: 10.1186/s13020-020-00369-z.

[11] FENG C, ZHANG H, CHEN J, WANG S, XIN Y, QU Y, ZHANG Q, JI W, YAMASHITA F, RUI M. Ratiometric Co-Encapsulation and Co-Delivery of Doxorubicin and Paclitaxel by Tumor-Targeted Lipodisks for Combination Therapy of Breast Cancer[J]. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2019, 560: 191-204.

[12] FENG C, YUAN X, CHU K, ZHANG H, JI W, RUI M. Preparation and Optimization of Poly (Lactic Acid) Nanoparticles Loaded with Fisetin to Improve Anti-Cancer Therapy[J]. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2019, 125: 700-710.

[13] ZHANG Q, ZHANG J, XUE S, RUI M, GAO B, LI A, BAI J, YIN Z, ANOCHIE E M. Enhanced Enantioselectivity of Native α-Cyclodextrins by the Synergy of Chiral Ionic Liquids in Capillary Electrophoresis[J]. Journal of Separation Science, 2018, 41(24): 4525-4532.

[14] TANG H, RUI M, YU C, CHU T, LI C, ZHAN Z, CAO H, LI H, LIU Z, SHEN H. Nanotechnology in Generation and Biomedical Application of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells[J]. Nano Life, 2018, 8(4): 1841002.

[15] FENG C, RUI M, SHEN H, XIN Y, ZHANG J, LI J, YUE L, LAI W, XU X. Tumor-specific delivery of doxorubicin through conjugation of pH-responsive peptide for overcoming drug resistance in cancer[J]. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2017, 528(1-2): 322-333.

[16] RUI M, XIN Y, LI R, GE Y, FENG C, XU X. Targeted Biomimetic Nanoparticles for Synergistic Combination Chemotherapy of Paclitaxel and Doxorubicin[J]. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2017, 14(1): 107-123.

[17] RUI M, QU Y, GAO T, GE Y, FENG C, XU X. Simultaneous delivery of anti-miR21 with doxorubicin prodrug by mimetic lipoprotein nanoparticles for synergistic effect against drug resistance in cancer cells[J]. International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2017, 12: 217-237.

[18] TANG H, CHEN X, RUI M, SUN W, CHEN J, PENG J, XU Y. Effects of surface displayed targeting ligand GE11 on liposome distribution and extravasation in tumor[J]. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2014, 11(10): 3242-3250.

[19] RUI M, TANG H, LI Y, WEI X, XU Y. Recombinant High Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles for Target-Specific Delivery of siRNA[J]. Pharmaceutical Research, 2013, 30(5): 1203-1214.

[20] LI Y, RUI M, TANG H, XU Y. The distribution and cell uptake of ApoA1 modified lipid carriers of siRNA in mouse liver in vivo[J]. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2013, 8: 228-233.

[21] RUI M, GUO W, DING Q, WEI X, XU J, XU Y. Recombinant high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles containing gadolinium-labeled cholesterol for morphologic and functional magnetic resonance imaging of the liver[J]. International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2012, 7: 3751-3768.

[22] ZHANG X, YANG H, GU K, CHEN J, RUI M, JIANG G L. In vitro and in vivo study of a nanoliposomal cisplatin as a radiosensitizer[J]. International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2011, 6: 437-444.

[23] MAI J, SONG S, RUI M, LIU D, DING Q, PENG J, XU Y. A synthetic peptide mediated active targeting of cisplatin liposomes to Tie2 expressing cells[J]. Journal of Controlled Release, 2009, 139(3): 174-181.