Education:
2001-2005 B.Sc. Department of Biological Sciences and Technology, Tsinghua University
2005-2011 Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, USA
Professional Positions:
2012-2017 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Rockefeller University \, New York, USA
2017-2022 Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2022-2024 Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2024-now Associate Professor, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Research Areas:
My research mainly engaged in the study of how cancer cells control cancer cell properties through the expression of cancer-specific transcriptional profiles. Cancer cells, different from normal differentiated cells, are capable of expressing specific sets of genes for their ability to self-renew and proliferate. We study how cancer-specific transcriptional programs are regulated in cancer cells through transcription factors, epigenetic factors, and mRNA splicing factors. So far, we have made important progress in cancer epigenetics and transcriptional regulation. I have published in Nature, PNAS, Genes & Development, NSMB, Nature Cancer, Cell Reports and other top journals. Until now, her work has been cited more than 4000 times.
The main focus of my lab is to elucidate the mechanism by which epigenetic regulators and transcription factors regulate tumorigenesis through dictating a cancer-specific transcriptional program. Her lab combines cutting edge genomic technologies, biochemical specialties, molecular biology methods and in vivo mouse models to study frontier questions in cancer biology. At the same time, my lab is also interested in fundamental questions in transcription regulation: how is RNA transcribed from genes, what are the differences between non-coding RNA and what are the underlying molecular mechanisms?
Honors and Awards:
Ø 2023 Beijing Science Foundation Distinguished Young Scholars
Ø 2023 2023 Chinese Society for Cell Biology Women Scientist Award (Type A)
Ø 2018 Youth Thousand Talent award
Ø 2015-2016 Women & Science Fellowship, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
Ø 2012-2015 The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Career Development Program, Fellow
Ø 2011 John S. Newberry Prize (Awarded to “Most promising student of the year in the field of vertebrate zoology”), Columbia University, New York, USA
Ø 2010 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Student Abroad
Selected Publications:
1.Chen M* (2024) Puff, the polytene chromosome: visualizing transcription elongation control. Molecular Cell. Aug 8. In press.
2.Liu X, Liu X, Du Y, Zou D, Tian C, Li Y, Lan X, David C, Sun Q, Chen M* (2023) Aberrant accumulation of Kras-dependent enhancer RNAs and PROMPTs during tumor progression renders cancer cells susceptible to PAF1 depletion. Cell Reports 42,112979.
3.Chen M* (2023) CircR-looping the leukemic translocations: The cause of MLL-translocations explained. Molecular Cell 83:2164-2166.
4.Chen Q, Cevher MA, Jiang Q, Wang S, Sun XJ, Roeder RG*, Chen M*(2022)LYL1 facilitates AETFC assembly and gene activation by recruiting CARM1 in t(8;21) AML. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 119, e2213718119.
5.Guo Z, Liu X, Chen M*(2022) Defining pervasive transcription units using chromatin RNA-sequencing data. STAR Protoc 3, 101442.
6.Liu X, Guo Z, Han J, Peng B, Zhang B, Li H, Hu X, David C, Chen M*(2022) The PAF1 complex promotes 3’ processing of pervasive transcripts. Cell Reports 38,110519.
7.Meng J, Zhao S, Tao Y, Zhang T, Wang X, Zhang Y, Sun K, Yuan M, Chen J, Wei Y, Lan X, Chen M*, David C, Chang Z, Guo X, Pan D, Chen M, Shao Z*, Kang Y*, Zheng H* (2022) Tumor-derived Jagged1 promotes cancer progression through immune evasion. Cell Reports38, 110492.
8.Li Y#, He Y#, Peng J#, Li Z, Zhang B, Ma J, Zhuo M, Zou D, Liu X, Liu X, Wang W, Huang D, Xu M, Wang J, Deng H, Xue J, Xie W, Lan X, Chen M, Zhao Y*, Wu W* and David C* (2021) Mutant Kras co-opts a proto-oncogenic enhancer network in inflammation-induced metaplastic progenitor cells to initiate pancreatic cancer. Nature Cancer 2:49-65. （#equal contribution）
9.David C, Huang Y, Chen M, Su J, Zou Y, Bardeesy N, Iacobuzio-Donahue C, Massagué J (2016)TGF-β Tumor Suppression Through A Lethal EMT. Cell 164:1015-30.
10.Zhu N, Chen M, Eng R, Sinha AU, Rahnamay N, Koche R, Al-Shahrour F, Minehart J, Chen C, Deshpande A Xu H, S. Chu H, Ebert B, Roeder R, Armstrong S (2016) Jmjd1c is required for MLL-AF9 and HOXA9 Mediated AML Stem Cell Self-Renewal. J Clin Invest126:997-1011.
11.Chen M, Zhu N, Liu X, Laurent B, Tang Z, Eng R, Shi Y, Armstrong S, Roeder R (2015) JMJD1C is required for the survival of acute myeloid leukemia by functioning as a coactivator for key transcription factors. Genes Dev 29:2123-2139.
12.Chen M, David C, Manley J (2012) Concentration-dependent control of pyruvate kinase M mutually exclusive splicing by hnRNP proteins. Nat Struct Mol Biol 19:346-U110.
13.Chen M, David C, Manley J (2010) Tumor metabolism: hnRNP proteins get in on the act. Cell Cycle 9: 1863-1864.
14.Chen M, Zhang J, Manley J (2010) Turning on a fuel switch of cancer: hnRNP proteins regulate alternative splicing of pyruvate kinase mRNA. Cancer Res.70:8977-8980.
15.David C#, Chen M#, Assanah M, Canoll P, Manley J(2010) HnRNP proteins controlled by c-Myc deregulate pyruvate kinase mRNA splicing in cancer. Nature 463: 364-U114.
16.Chen M, Manley J (2009) Mechanisms of alternative splicing regulation: insights from molecular and genomics approaches. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 10:741-754.
17.Feng Y, Chen M, Manley J(2008) Phosphorylation switches the general splicing repressor SRp38 to a sequence-specific activator. Nat Struct Mol Biol 15:1040-1048.
