Hong Chen
Associate Professor
Division of Nutritional Sciences
University of Illinois at urbana champaign
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Hong Chen received her B.S. degree in cell biology from Lanzhou University in China. She then studied animal nutrition at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA and received both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in molecular nutrition. She continued her training as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL. She started as an assistant professor in 2006 here in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
Research Interest
Nutrient regulation of epigenetic modifications in cancer and other chronic diseases.The focus of my research is the role of epigenetic modifications on cancer and other chronic diseases. Epigenetic modifications of the genome, such as DNA methylation, histone methylation and acetylation, are powerful regulators of gene expression in mammalian cells. We are particularly interested in how epigenetic modifications are regulated by dietary components in colon tumor cells and how these modifications contribute to the tumorigenesis or cancer progression. Â Currently the focus of my lab is on dietary folate and active components in soy foods and how they contribute to epigenetic regulations in colon cancer.
Publications
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Tang X, Kuhlenschmidt TB, Li Q, Ali S, Lezmi S, Chen H, Pires-Alves M, Laegreid WW, Saif TA, Kuhlenschmidt MS. A mechanically-induced colon cancer cell population shows increased metastatic potential. Mol Cancer. 2014 May 29;13:131. doi: 10.1186/1476-4598-13-131.
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Zhou D, Wang H, Cui H, Chen H, Pan YX. Early-life exposure to high-fat diet may predispose rats to gender-specific hepatic fat accumulation by programming Pepck expression. J Nutr Biochem. 2015 May;26(5):433-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2014.10.009. Epub 2014 Nov 22. PubMed PMID: 25716581.
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Zhang Y, Wang H, Zhou D, Moody L, Lezmi S, Chen H, Pan YX. A High Fat Diet Caused Widespread Epigenomic Differences on Hepatic Methylome in Rat. PhysiolGenomics. 2015 Jul 21:physiolgenomics.00110.2014. doi: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00110.2014.
