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Prof. Qian Tao

267
Prof. Qian Tao
陶謙教授
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qualifications
PhD., MPhil., BSc.
rank
Professor
orcid
0000-0001-5383-4808
email
qtao@cuhk.edu.hk

Specific Research / Sites of Interest


  1. Cancer epigenomics: identification of novel tumor suppressor genes (TSG) and their functional/mechanistic characterization in tumorigenesis

  2. Identification of epigenetic modifier genes involved in aberrant CpG methylation and chromatin-remodeling in tumors

  3. Development of epigenetic biomarkers and epigenetic therapeutics

  4. Epigenetic regulation of EBV genes and EBV-modulated aberrant epigenetic programming in EBV pathogenesis

Short Biography

Prof. Tao obtained his PhD in Molecular Pathology from the University of Hong Kong and did his postdoc training in Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1995 to 1999. He was appointed as Assistant Professor in Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1999, and later to Associate Professor and Full Professor (2008) in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He leads the Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory in the State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Prof Tao’s group has established the CpG methylomes of common tumors in Hong Kong including nasopharyngeal, esophageal, lung, digestive cancers and lymphomas. His group has identified multiple novel TSGs (e.g. PCDH10, RASAL/RASAL1, ZNF382, BLU, ZNF545, DLEC1, DACT2, JPH3, ZBTB28, ZDHHC1, SP0495, etc); characterized the functions and molecular mechanisms of these genes in cell signaling and tumorigenesis; and also developed epigenetic biomarkers and therapeutics. He has published 184 papers on cancer epigenetics in international journals (total citations: >12700; h-index: 70), including PNAS, Lancet, JCO, Cancer Res, Blood, Gut, Hepatol, Theranostics and CDDiffer, as well as 5 book chapters on epigenetics. He is an external reviewer for multiple scientific journals and an academic Editor for several journals. He also serves as a grant review panel member for China Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) and a reviewer for several other agents including AICR, Wellcome Trust, MRC-UK, Dutch Cancer Society, Singapore National Medical Research Council and China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). He has been a vice-President for the international Epigenetics Society (http://epigeneticssocietyint.com/) ) since 2008.

Most Representative Publications

1. L Li*, XS Shu, H Geng, J Ying, L Guo, J Luo, T Xiang, L Wu, BB Ma, AT Chan, XF Zhu, RF Ambinder, Q Tao*. (*corresponding authors). A 1p36.3 lncRNA codes a novel small phosphoinositide-binding protein acting as a tumor suppressor repressing AKT signaling and promoting autophagy. Cell Death & Differentiation 2023; (in press)
2. Ying K, Wang C, Liu S, Kuang Y, Q Tao*, X Hu*. Diverse Ras-related GTPase DIRAS2, downregulated by PSMD2 in a proteasome-mediated way, inhibits colorectal cancer proliferation by blocking NF-κB signaling. Int J Biol Sci 2022; 18(3):1039-1050.
3. R Sun, T Xiang, J Tang, W Peng, J Luo, L Li, Z Qiu, Y Tan, L Ye, M Zhang, G Ren, Q Tao. 19q13 KRAB zinc-finger protein ZNF471 activates MAPK10/JNK3 signaling but is frequently silenced by promoter CpG methylation in esophageal cancer. Theranostics 2020; 10:2243-2259.
4. L Li, Y Fan, X Huang, J Luo, L Zhong, XS Shu, L Lu, T Xiang, AT Chan, W Yeo, C Chen, WY Chan, RL Huganir, Q Tao. Tumor Suppression of Ras GTPase-Activating Protein RASA5 through Antagonizing Ras Signaling Perturbation in Carcinomas. iScience (Cell Press) 2019; 21:1-18.
5. Xiang T, Tang J, Li L, Peng W, Du Z, Wang X, Li Q, Xu H, Xiong L, Xu C, Le X, Wei X, Yu F, Li S, Xiao Q, Luo B, Xiang X, Huang A, Lin Y, Ren G, Tao Q. Tumor suppressive BTB/POZ zinc-finger protein ZBTB28 inhibits oncogenic BCL6/ZBTB27 signaling to maintain p53 transcription in multiple carcinogenesis. Theranostics. 2019; 9(26):8182-8195.
6. Li L, Xu J, Qiu G, Ying J, Du Z, Xiang T, Wong KY, Srivastava G, Zhu XF, Mok TS, Chan AT, Chan FK, Ambinder RF, Tao Q. Epigenomic characterization of a p53-regulated 3p22.2 tumor suppressor that inhibits STAT3 phosphorylation via protein docking and is frequently methylated in esophageal and other carcinomas. Theranostics. 2018; 8(1):61-77.
7. Li L, Li C, Mao H, Du Z, Chan WY, Murray P, Luo B, Chan AT, Mok TS, Chan FK, Ambinder RF, Tao Q. Epigenetic inactivation of the CpG demethylase TET1 as a DNA methylation feedback loop in human cancers. Scientific Reports. 2016; 6:26591.
8. Li LL, Zhang Y, Fan YC, Sun K, Su XW, Du ZF, Tsao SW, Loh TKS, Sun H, Chan ATC, Zeng YX, Chan WY, Chan FK, Tao Q. Characterization of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma methylome identifies aberrant disruption of key signaling pathways and methylated tumor suppressor genes. Epigenomics 2015; 7: 155-173.
9. Wang SY, Cheng YD, Du W, Lu LN, Zhou L, Wang HT, Kang W, Li XX, Tao Q*, Sung JJY, Yu J*. Zinc-finger protein 545 is a novel tumour suppressor that acts by inhibiting ribosomal RNA transcription in gastric cancer. Gut 2013; 62: 833-841.
10. Cheng YD, Geng H, Cheng SH, Liang P, Bai Y, Li JS, Srivastava G, Ng MHL, Fukagawa T, Wu XS, Chan ATC, Tao Q. KRAB zinc finger protein ZNF382 is a proapoptotic tumor suppressor that represses multiple oncogenes and is commonly silenced in multiple carcinomas. Cancer Research 2010; 70:6516-26.
11. Yu J, Tao Q*, Cheung KF, Jin H, Poon FF, Wang X, Li H, Cheng YY, Rocken C, Ebert MPA, Chan ATC, Sung JJ* . Epigenetic identification of UCHL1 as a functional tumor suppressor and biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma and other digestive tumors. Hepatology 2008; 48:508-18.
12. Jin H, Wang X, Ying JM, Wong AHY, Cui Y, Srivastava G, Shen ZY, Li EM, Zhang Q, Jin J, Kupzig S, Chan ATC, Cullen PJ, Tao Q. Epigenetic silencing of a Ca(2+)-regulated Ras GTPase-activating protein RASAL defines a new mechanism of Ras activation in human cancers. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of USA 2007; 104:12353-125358.