Research Experience
University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), B.S., 1994
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D., 2000
Harvard University, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2000-2002
University of Chicago, Assistant Professor 2002-2008,
Associate Professor 2008-2010, Professor 2010-
Director, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, 2012-2017
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), 2014-
John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor, 2014-
Research Interests:
Our research program spans a broad range of chemical biology, nucleic acid chemistry and biology, epigenetics, and bioinorganic chemistry. We discovered the first RNA demethylase and continue to explore gene expression regulation mediated by dynamic and reversible RNA modifications such as N6-methyladenosine m6A. We developed enabling tools to map DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and its oxidation derivatives in mammalian genomes and continue to study DNA 5-methylcytosine (5mC) oxidation and demethylation in biological regulation. We revealed the presence of DNA 6-methyladenosine (6mA) in eukaryotic genomes and continue to investigate functional roles played by this new DNA mark in eukaryotes. We study virulence and antibiotic resistance regulation in human pathogens. We also study metal ion homeostasis and selective metal ion recognition by naturally occurring and engineered proteins.
Representative Publications
- Dominissini, D.*; Nachtergaele, S.; Moshitch-Moshkovitz, S.; Peer, E.; Kol, N.; Ben-Haim, M. S.; Dai, Q.; Di Segni, A.; Salmon-Divon, M.; Clark, W. C.; Zheng, G.; Pan, T.; Solomon, O.; Eyal, E.; Hershkovitz, V.; Han, D.; Doré, L. C.; Amariglio, N.; Rechavi, G.*; He, C.* The dynamic N1-methyladenosine methylome in eukaryotic messenger RNA. Nature 2016, 530, 441-446.
- Wang, X.; Zhao, B. S.; Roundtree, I. A.; Lu, Z.; Han, D.; Ma, H.; Weng, X.; Chen, K.; Shi, H.; He, C.*N6-methyladenosine modulates messenger RNA translation efficiency. Cell 2015, 161, 1388-1399.
- Fu, Y.; Luo, G. Z.; Chen, K.; Deng, X.; Yu, M.; Han, D.; Hao, Z.; Liu, J.; Lu, X.; Doré, L. C.; Weng,X.; Ji, Q.; Mets, L.; He, C.* N6-methyldeoxyadenosine marks active transcription start sites in chlamydomonas. Cell 2015, 161, 879-892.
- Wang, X.; Lu, Z.; Gomez, A.; Hon, G. C.; Yue, Y.; Han, D.; Fu, Y.; Parisien, M.; Dai, Q.; Jia, G.; Ren,B.; Pan, T.; He, C.* N6-methyladenosine-dependent regulation of messenger RNA stability. Nature 2014, 505, 117-120.
- Liu, J.; Yue, Y.; Han, D.; Wang, X.; Fu, Y.; Zhang, L.; Jia, G.; Yu, M.; Lu, Z.; Deng, X.; Dai, Q.;Chen, W.; He, C.* A METTL3-METTL14 complex mediates mammalian nuclear RNA N6-adenosinemethylation. Nat. Chem. Biol. 2014, 10, 93-95.
- Song, C. X.; Szulwach, K. E.; Dai, Q.; Fu, Y.; Mao, S. Q.; Lin, L.; Street, C.; Li, Y.; Poidevin, M.; Wu,H.; Gao, J.; Liu, P.; Li, L.; Xu, G. L.; Jin, P.*; He, C.* Genome-wide profiling of 5-formylcytosinereveals its roles in epigenetic priming. Cell 2013, 153, 678-691.
- Zheng, G.; Dahl, J. A.; Niu, Y.; Fedorcsak, P.; Huang, C.-M.; Li, Charles J.; Vågbø, Cathrine B.; Shi,Y.; Wang, W.-L.; Song, S.-H.; Lu, Z.; Bosmans, Ralph P. G.; Dai, Q.; Hao, Y.-J.; Yang, X.; Zhao, W.-M.; Tong, W.-M.; Wang, X.-J.; Bogdan, F.; Furu, K.; Fu, Y.; Jia, G.; Zhao, X.; Liu, J.; Krokan,Hans E.; Klungland, A.*; Yang, Y.-G.*; He, C.* ALKBH5 is a mammalian RNA demethylase that impacts RNA metabolism and mouse fertility. Mol. Cell 2013, 49, 18-29.
- Yu, M.; Hon, G. C.; Szulwach, K. E.; Song, C.-X.; Zhang, L.; Kim, A.; Li, X. K.; Dai, Q.; Shen, Y.;Park, B.; Min, J. H.; Jin, P.*; Ren, B.*; He, C.* Base-resolution analysis of 5-hydroxymethylcytosinein the mammalian genome. Cell 2012, 149, 1368-1380.
- Jia, G.; Fu, Y.; Zhao, X.; Dai, Q.; Zheng, G.; Yang, Y.; Yi, C.; Lindahl, T.; Yang, Y.-G.; He, C.* “N6-methyladesosine in nuclear RNA is a major substrate of the obesity-associated FTO” Nat. Chem. Biol.2011, 7, 885-887.
- Song, C.-X.; Szulwach, K. E.; Fu, Y.; Dai, Q.; Yi, C.; Li, X.; Chen, C.-H.; Zhang, W.; Jian, X.; Wang,J.; Zhang, L.; Looney, T. J.; Zhang, B.; Godley, L. A.; Hicks, L. M.; Lahn, B. T.; Jin, P.*; He, C*. “Selective chemical labeling reveals the genome-wide distribution of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine” Nat. Biotechnol. 2011, 29, 68-72.
