2006 - 2010  B.S., Sun Yat-Sen University

2010 - 2016  Ph.D., Peking University

2016 - 2022  Postdoctoral researcher, Lab of Dr. Danesh Moazed, Howard-Hughes Medical Institute/Harvard Medical School

2022-            Principle Investigator, Institute of Biophysics, CAS

The importance of epigenetic research is that for multicellular organisms, each cell type has the same set of DNA, and this set of DNA determines the fate of cells and the function of cells by expressing different genes, so studying epigenetics is crucial for us to understand cell differentiation, on-body development, and individual responses to environmental stimuli.

1. Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of gene expression

One of the key questions in epigenetics is how gene expression regulation is achieved and how gene expression regulation determines cell fate. Therefore, the research in this laboratory focuses on more comprehensive and in-depth investigation of the epigenetic molecular mechanism of transcriptional silencing and the roles of epigenetic regulatory systems in cell fate control through biochemistry, molecular biology, gene editing, second-generation sequencing, bioinformatics analysis and other means.

2. Transferring mechanisms of immune cell fate

Immune cells are the main force in the body's fight against pathogenic infections and are also participants in the occurrence of various human diseases (fibrosis, tumors, etc.). An important feature of immune cells is their high variability, but their cell fate determination mechanism and functions are still unclear. Our laboratory focuses on the differentiation, activation, inactivation, tolerance mechanisms of immune cells.

1. Zhou H*, Feng W, Yu J, Shafiq T , Pualo J, Zhang J, Luo Z, Gygi S, Moazed D*. SENP3 and USP7 regulate Polycomb-rixosome interactions and silencing functions. Cell Rep. 2023 Apr 3; 42(4):112339. (*Corresponding)

2. Zhou H, Stein C, Shafiq T, Shipkovenska G, Kalocsay M, Pualo J, Zhang J, Luo Z, Gygi S, Adelman K, Moazed D. Rixosomal RNA degradation contributes to silencing of Polycomb target genes. Nature. 2022. 7904:167-174 (Reported in Nature News & views entitled "An Added Layer of Repression for Human Genes") (Highlighted in Nature Chemical Biology entitled "Silenced by Degradation")

3. Wang X, Paulo J, Li X, Zhou H, Yu J, Gygi S, Moazed D. A composite DNA element that functions as a maintainer required for epigenetic inheritance of heterochromatin. Molecular Cell. 2021. 3979-3991.e4.

4. Zhou H*, Zheng T*, Wang T, Li Q, Wang F, Liang X, Chen J, Teng J. CCDC74A/B are K-fiber crosslinkers required for chromosomal alignment. BMC Biology. 2019. 17 (1), 73

5. Zhou H, Wang T, Zheng T, Teng J, Chen J. Cep57 Is a Mis12-interacting Kinetochore Protein Involved in Kinetochore Targeting of Mad1-Mad2. Nature Communications. 2016. 7:10151.

6. He R*, Huang N*, Bao Y, Zhou H, Teng J, Chen J. LRRC45 Is a Centrosome Linker Component Required for Centrosome Cohesion. Cell Reports. 2013, 4:1100-1107.

7. He R*, Wu Q*, Zhou H*, Huang N, Chen J, Teng J. Cep57 Protein Is Required for Cytokinesis by Facilitating Central Spindle Microtubule Organization. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2013, 20:14384-14390.

8. Wu Q*, He R*, Zhou H, Yu C, Zhang B, Teng J, Chen J. Cep57, a NEDD1-binding pericentriolar material component, is essential for spindle pole integrity. Cell Research. 2012, 12:1390-1401.

(From Haining Zhou, December 21, 2023)