To study the regulation of mutant p53 gain-of-function in tumorigenesis

To screen small molecular compounds targeting mutant p53

2004-2010 Shandong University, School of Medicine, Clinical Medicine, BS

2010-2012 Shandong University, School of Medicine, Surgery, MD

2013-2018 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Graduate Studies, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, PhD

2011-2013 University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Visiting Scholar

2018-2019 Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Postdoc

2019-current Kunming Institutue of Botany, CAS, PI

1. Zhao Y, Wu L, Yue X, Zhang C, Wang J, Li J, Sun X, Zhu Y, Feng Z, Hu W. A polymorphism in the tumor suppressor p53 affects aging and longevity in mouse models. eLife. 2018; 7: e34701. 

2. Zhao Y, Zhang C, Yue X, Li X, Liu J, Yu H, Belyi VA, Yang Q, Feng Z, Hu W. Pontin, a new mutant p53-binding protein, promotes gain-of-function of mutant p53. Cell Death Differ. 2015; 22(11): 1824-36. 

3. Zheng T*, Wang J*, Zhao Y*(*co-first author), Zhang C, Lin M, Wang X, Yu H, Liu L, Feng Z, Hu W. Spliced MDM2 isoforms promote mutant p53 accumulation and gain-of-function in tumorigenesis. Nat Commun. 2013; 4: 2996.  

4. Yue X*, Zhao Y* (*co-first author), Liu J, Zhang C, Yu H, Wang J, Zheng T, Liu L, Li J, Feng Z, Hu W. BAG2 promotes tumorigenesis through enhancing mutant p53 protein levels and function. eLife. 2015; 4. 

5. Yue X*, Zhao Y* (*co-first author), Xu Y, Zheng M, Feng Z, Hu W. Mutant p53 in Cancer: Accumulation, Gain-of-Function, and Therapy. J Mol Biol. 2017 Jun 2; 429(11): 1595-1606. 

6. Zhao Y, Yu H, Hu W. The regulation of MDM2 oncogene and its impact on human cancers. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin. 2014; 46(3): 180-9. 

7. Zhao Y, Kong X, Li X, Yan S, Yuan C, Hu W, Yang Q. Metadherin mediates lipopolysaccharide-induced migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. PLoS One. 2011; 6(12): e29363. 

8. Zhao Y, Yue X, Hu W. Pontin, a novel interactor of mutant p53 that promotes mutant p53 gain of function. Mol Cell Oncol. 2016; 3(2): e1076587. 

9. Yue X, Zhang C, Zhao Y, Liu J, Lin AW, Tan VM, Drake JM, Liu L, Boateng MN, Li J, Feng Z, Hu W. Gain-of-function mutant p53 activates small GTPase Rac1 through SUMOylation to promote tumor progression. Genes Dev. 2017; 31(16):1641-1654. 

10. Liu J, Zhang C, Zhao Y, Yue X, Wu H, Huang S, Chen J, Tomsky K, Xie H, Khella CA, Gatza ML, Xia D, Gao J, White E, Haffty BG, Hu W, Feng Z. Parkin targets HIF-1α for ubiquitination and degradation to inhibit breast tumor progression. Nat Commun. 2017 Nov 28;8(1):1823. 

11. Yue X, Zhao Y, Huang G, Li J, Zhu J, Feng Z, Hu W. A novel mutant p53 binding partener BAG5 stabilizes mutant p53 and promotes mutant p53 GOFs in tumorigenesis. Cell Discov. 2016 Nov 1; 2: 16039. 

12. Zhang C, Liu J, Zhao Y, Yue X, Zhu Y, Wang X, Wu H, Blanco F, Li S, Bhanot G, Haffty BG, Hu W, Feng Z. Glutaminase 2 is a novel negative regulator of small GTPase Rac1 and mediates p53 function in suppressing metastasis. eLife. 2016; 5: e10727. 

13. Feng Z, Liu L, Zhang C, Zheng T, Wang J, Lin M, Zhao Y, Wang X, Levine AJ, Hu W. Chronic restraint stress attenuates p53 function and promotes tumorigenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2012; 109(18): 7013-8. 

14. Zhang C, Liu J, Huang G, Zhao Y, Yue X, Wu H, Li J, Zhu J, Shen Z, Haffty BG, Hu W, Feng Z. Cullin3-KLHL25 ubiquitin ligase targets ACLY for degradation to inhibit lipid synthesis and tumor progression. Genes Dev. 2016 Sep 1; 30(17): 1956-70. 

15. Yu H, Yue X, Zhao Y, Li X, Wu L, Zhang C, Liu Z, Lin K, Xu-Monette ZY, Young KH, Liu J, Shen Z, Feng Z, Hu W. LIF negatively regulates tumour-suppressor p53 through Stat3/ID1/MDM2 in colorectal cancers. Nat Commun. 2014; 5: 5218. 

16. Zhang C, Liu J, Liang Y, Wu R, Zhao Y, Hong X, Lin M, Yu H, Liu L, Levine AJ, Hu W, Feng Z. Tumour-associated mutant p53 drives the Warburg effect. Nat Commun. 2013; 4: 2935. 

17. Yue X, Zhao Y, Zhang C, Li J, Liu Z, Liu J, Hu W. Leukemia inhibitory factor promotes EMT through STAT3-dependent miR-21 induction. Oncotarget. 2016; 7(4): 3777-90. 

18. Liu J, Zhang C, Zhao Y, Feng Z. MicroRNA control of p53. J Cell Biochem. 2016, 118(1): 7-14. 

19. Qiu WG, Polotskaia A, Xiao G, Di L, Zhao Y, Hu W, Philip J, Hendrickson RC, Bargonetti J. Identification, validation, and targeting of the mutant p53-PARP-MCM chromatin axis in triple negative breast cancer. NPJ breast cancer. 2017; 3. 20. Zhang C, Liu J, Tan C, Yue X, Zhao Y, Peng J, Wang X, Laddha SV, Chan CS, Zheng S, Hu W, Feng Z. microRNA-1827 represses MDM2 to positively regulate tumor suppressor p53 and suppress tumorigenesis. Oncotarget. 2016; 7(8): 8783-96. 

21. Wu L, Yu H, Zhao Y, Zhang C, Wang J, Yue X, Yang Q, Hu W. HIF-2alpha mediates hypoxia-induced LIF expression in human colorectal cancer cells. Oncotarget. 2015; 6(6): 4406-17. 

22. Liu J, Zhang C, Lin M, Zhu W, Liang Y, Hong X, Zhao Y, Young KH, Hu W, Feng Z. Glutaminase 2 negatively regulates the PI3K/AKT signaling and shows tumor suppression activity in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Oncotarget. 2014; 5(9): 2635-47. 

23. Li X, Yang Q, Yu H, Wu L, Zhao Y, Zhang C, Yue X, Liu Z, Wu H, Haffty BG, Feng Z, Hu W. LIF promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis of breast cancer through the AKT-mTOR pathway. Oncotarget. 2014; 5(3): 788-801. 

24. Li X, Xu B, Moran MS, Zhao Y, Su P, Haffty BG, Shao C, Yang Q. 53BP1 functions as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer via the inhibition of NF-kappaB through miR-146a. Carcinogenesis. 2012; 33(12): 2593-600. 

25. Kong X, Moran MS, Zhao Y, Yang Q. Inhibition of metadherin sensitizes breast cancer cells to AZD6244. Cancer Biol Ther. 2012; 13(1): 43-9. 

2017 NIH F99 Award

2017 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad

2016 Rutgers RWJ Aaron Shatkin Scholarship

2007 National Excellent Student

2004-2009 Shandong University Excellent Student