Hou Fajian
Professor
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
China
Biography
HOU Fajian is a Professor Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Research Interest
Our immune system includes innate immunity and adaptive immunity, which fight against infectious diseases. While adaptive immunity is antigen specific and takes longer time to be effective, innate immunity has no antigenic specificity but acts more swiftly. Innate immunity not only provides immediate defense for the host but also is important for developing a more specific and potent adaptive immune response. Distinct innate immune response is triggered by the detection of various invading pathogens. Pathogens are detected due to the so-called pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), include lipopolysaccharides, flagellin, and nucleic acids from bacteria, fungi, and viruses respectively. PAMPs are recognized by a group of evolutionarily conserved and germline-encoded receptors in host cells, which are called pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). The interaction between PAMPs and PRRs initiates a signaling cascade, leading to the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines and eventually preventing the proliferation of pathogens. We are interested in dissecting distinct signal transduction pathways biochemically in innate immune response.
Publications
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Hou F, Sun L, Zheng H, Skaug B, Jiang QX, Chen ZJ*. MAVS forms functional prion-like aggregates to activate and propagate antiviral innate immune response. Cell. (2011) 146(3), 448-61.
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Chu CW, Hou F, Zhang J, Phu L, Loktev AV, Kirkpatrick DS, Jackson PK, Zhao Y, Zou H*. A novel acetylation of β-tubulin by San modulates microtubule polymerization via down-regulating tubulin incorporation. Mol Biol Cell. (2011) 22(4), 448-56.
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Shi Y#, Yuan B#, Qi N#, Zhu W, Su J, Li X, Qi P, Zhang D, Hou F*. An autoinhibitory mechanism modulates MAVS activity in antiviral innate immune response. Nat Commun. (2015).
