Key Laboratory of RNA and Hematopoietic Regulation, CAMS was founded in 2017 (as known as “Key Lab”). The Key Lab is mainly estimated at Chinese Academy of Medical and supported by Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, which attracts outstanding and professional academic leaders, researchers, technicians, and management people. Under the guidance of the significant requests of the country, the Key Lab recruits cutting-edge medical sciences and technologies to reach an innovative approach for Chinese health construction, which is to utilize molecular mechanisms to demonstrate human diseases and improve the clinical transformation. In short, we provide fundamental platform for basic medical research, technology innovation, and study of innovative talents.
The primary research area of our Lab is RNA regulation and function during hematopoiesis and the development of malignant tumors. Besides, our research includes two parts, one part is processing and regulation of RNA molecules, including study of diversity of transcripts in cells and post-transcriptional study of miRNA. The other past is study of abnormal RNA regulation and related diseases, including the study of transcripts variation caused by abnormal RNA processing. In addition, we are also interested in the study of tumor metabolism and immunoglobulin abnormalities that may cause cardiovascular diseases. What is important is that the basic, important, and prospective study of RNA matches the national plan of long-term development and shows dominance in the development plan of basic research in China.
Our lab has a mature experimental technology platform for RNA-related research. Meanwhile, it also provides professional bioinformatics analysis platform, which will help theoretical innovation and breakthrough in RNA study. At the same time, RNA biomarkers that show clinical significance will be discovered and largely improve the detection speed, sensitivity, and specificity of clinical diagnosis and prognosis in hematopoietic system diseases. Such innovation will enlighten new strategies for prevention and treatments of hematopoietic system diseases, which could become theoretical guidance and
scientific reference for diseases of the blood system in our country.
In 2022, our lab has made important progress in RNA regulation in hematopoiesis, stem cell fate decision, and related diseases. For example, Dr. Yu Jia’s team published papers on Nature cell biology, revealing a novel translation regulation mechanism of methyltransferase METTL3 independent of m6A modification and firstly proposing that the specific enrichment of METTL3 in the cytoplasm is closely related to tumor progression. The team also published a paper on Advanced Materials, which revealed the transcriptional heterogeneity of HSCs. They constructed a dynamic splicing landscape during entire HSC
ontogeny and explored the key alternative splicing events that regulate the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells. In addition, Yu’s team also published an article on Advanced Materials, which constructed an engineered nanodrug delivery system based on small extracellular vesicles, demonstrating that small extracellular vesicles targeting the m6A reader YTHDF1 can treat gastric cancer through epigenetic and immune regulation. What’s more, Dr. Wang Jing’s team published a paper on Cardiovascular Research, clarifying the role of IgE in hypertension and confirming that targeted IgE therapy can be a new treatment strategy for hypertensive patients with high IgE levels. Also, Dr Du Wenjing’s team published an article on Nature Metabolism, discovering the important role of mutual regulation between malic acid enzyme and p53 in cell aging and metabolism, and was the first to prove that malic acid enzyme is also the main source of intracellular NADPH.