Journal of Biomolecular Research & Therapeutics

Xinyang Zhao

Xinyang Zhao
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
University of Alabama, USA

Biography

I graduated from Fudan University, Shanghai, China. After getting a Ph.D. on virology, I studied molecular biology with Nouria Hernandez at Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Then I learned how to study leukemia and hematology with Stephen Nimer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Now I am an assistant professorof UAB Stem Cell Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I address questions on leukemia related transcriptional regulation with biochemistry tools, in addition to mouse models. I have been studying PRMT1 and other family members of PRMTs for their roles in transcriptional regulation and in signal transduction for a decade now. Recently, I also use the knowledge gathered from basic research to set up the translational research such as evaluating PRMT inhibitors for leukemia therapy and other solid tumors. I have been invited to other countries (China, UK and Germany) to give seminars and keynote speeches on the role of PRMTs in leukemia. Currently, we are investigating how PRMT1 regulates gene expression in megakaryocytic leukemia cells and the mechanisms on how PRMT1 regulates tumor cell proliferation via its methylated proteins in a few critical signal transduction pathways.

Research Interest

The mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in leukemogenesis, chromatin biology, epigenetics of human stem cells and translational research on cancer.