Guang Shouhong

Biography

GUANG Shouhong got his BSc. (biology) in 1996 and his MSc. (solution conformation of peptides, academician Yunyu Shi as his supervisor) in 1999 from University of Science and Technology of China. From 1999 to 2004, he studied expression and regulation of mechanism of no intronic RNA of virus’s origins in eukaryotic organism in cancer research institute, University of Wisconsin in the USA, tutored by Prof. Janet Mert, and got his PhD. in 2004. From 2005 to 2010, worked as a postdoctor in laboratory of Assistant Professor Scott Kennedy at Genetics Department, University of Wisconsin, and studied on function and regulation of mechanism of siRNA in model organism. He has 12 papers published in international famous journals as Nature and Science (with 6 papers as first author), 2 of which was indexed by "Fabulty of 1000 Biology". His awards include President Award of Chinese Acdemy of Sciences, Postdoc Award of American Heart Association. "Thousand Talents Program" scholar.

Research Interest

The mechanistic underpinnings of RNAi are broadly conserved across eukaryotes. Initial successes utilizing small RNAs to target oncogenic and viral mRNAs have generated excitement that small RNAs may eventually be utilized to treat human diseases. Prior to the rational use of small RNA in therapeutics, it is essential to understand their biogenesis, specificity, transportation, and endogenous roles. We am very interested in how small RNAs are transported and regulated, and how they function in the nucleus in metazoan. To address these questions, we conducted a genetic screen to identify factors required for nuclear RNAi in the model organism C. elegans and have identified three new genes termed nuclear RNAi defective (NRDE)-1/2/3. We have also identified a bifurcation of the nuclear and cytoplasmic RNAi pathway, a novel small RNA transport pathway, and a novel nuclear gene silencing mechanism.  Our research indicates that metazoans use a different mechanism than A. thaliana and S. pombe to silence gene expression in the nucleus. Further understanding how small RNAs function in the nucleus via NRDEs may permit more stable and specific inhibition of gene expression and facilitate advancement of both basic research and therapeutics.