Our group develops integrated computational and experimental genomics approaches to uncover basic molecular mechanisms in RNA biology and reveal novel functional roles of RNA regulation mediating cancer progression.

• Regulation of RNA translation

  RNA translation controls the protein production in a cell, and is highly regulated during development and diseases. We study the regulation of RNA translation and functional roles of translation factors underlying cell fate decisions and oncogenesis. By developing a computational tool for ribosome profiling, we found that ~40% of annotated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and ~35% of 5’UTRs are translated. And we are studying the functional roles of the RNA translation events in these putative noncoding regions.

• Regulation of alternative polyadenylation

  ~80% of genes encoded in the mammalian genomes contain multiple polyadenylation (polyA) sites, resulting in generating mRNA isoforms with different coding regions and 3’UTRs. The process is called alternative polyadenylation (APA). APA regulates diverse functions of RNAs produced by the same gene, including coding sequence, stability, localization and translation efficiency. We study molecular mechanisms and functional importance of APA regulation in cells.

• Regulatory circuits controlling tumor-promoting inflammation

  Tumor-promoting inflammation is a hallmark of cancer and plays important regulatory roles during steps of oncogenesis, including cell transformation, metastasis and creating an immunosuppressive microenviroment. The inflammatory signals in a tumor are from two distinct pathways, including the intrinsic signals from cancer cells and the extrinsic signals from immune cells. We integrate multiple layers of genomic profiling datasets to dissect the dynamic molecular interactions of inflammatory pathways between cancer cells and immune cells. We aim to modulate the inflammatory pathways for developing novel cancer immunotherapy strategies.