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Jun-yuan Ji, PhD
  • Professor
  • Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  •  
  • ji@tulane.edu
  • Louisiana Cancer Research Center, Room 716, 1700 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112
  • School of Medicine
Jun-yuan Ji, PhD

Education

  • Postdoctoral, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown
  • PhD, Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • MSc, Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • BSc, Cell Biology, Lanzhou University

Biography

Dr. Jun-yuan Ji obtained his Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Washington in Seattle under the tutelage of Dr. Gerold Schubiger. He conducted his postdoctoral research in Dr. Nicholas Dyson’s lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. Dr. Ji started his faculty career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine at the Texas A&M University in College Station in 2009, and he was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2015. He joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Tulane University School of Medicine in 2021.

Click to visit Dr. Ji's laboratory website for more details.

Candidates interested in graduate study in the Ji laboratory at the Tulane University are encouraged to apply through the following program: https://medicine.tulane.edu/education/biomedical-sciences-graduate-program

 

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Connecting research and researchers

ORCHID logo, connecting research and researchers https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4483-4336

Publications

  • Li, X., Zhang, M, Liu, M., Liu, T.H., Hemba-Waduge, R., and Ji, J.Y. (2022) CDK8 attenuates lipogenesis by inhibiting SREBP-dependent transcription in Drosophila. Disease Models & Mechanisms, in press.
  • Li, X., Liu, M., Ren, X., Loncle, N., Wang, Q., Hemba-Waduge, R., Boube, M., Bourbon, H.-M. G., Ni, J.Q., and Ji, J.Y. (2020) The Mediator CDK8-Cyclin C complex modulates vein patterning in Drosophila by stimulating Mad-dependent transcription. PLoS Genetics 16(5): e1008832.
  • Li, X., Liu, M., and Ji, J.Y. (2019) Understanding obesity as a risk factor for uterine tumors using Drosophila. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 1167, 129-155. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-23629-8_8.
  • Ji, J.Y., Han, C., Deng, W.M. (2019) Understanding human diseases using Drosophila. J. Genet. Genomics 46 (4): 155-156.
  • Gao, X., Xie, X.J., Hsu, F.N., Li, X., Liu, M., Hemba-Waduge, R., Xu, W., and Ji, J.Y. (2018) CDK8 mediates the dietary effects on developmental transition in Drosophila. Developmental Biology, 444, 62-70.
  • Qiao, H.H., Wang, F., Xu, R.G., Sun, J., Zhu, R., Mao, D., Ren, X., Wang, X., Jia, Y., Peng, P., Shen, D., Liu, L.P., Chang, Z., Wang, G., Li, S., Ji, J.Y., Liu, Q., Ni, J.Q. (2018) An efficient and multiple target transgenic RNAi technique with low toxicity in Drosophila. Nature Communications 9, 4160. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06537-y
  • Zheng Y.*, Xue, Y.*, Ren, X.*, Liu, M., Li,X., Jia, Y., Niu, Y., Ni, J.Q.#, Zhang, Y.#, and Ji, J.Y. (2018) The lysine demethylase dKDM2 is non-essential for viability, but regulates circadian rhythms.  Frontiers in Genetics 9: 354. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00354. (*Equal contribution authors; # Corresponding authors)
  • Zhang, T.*, Hsu, F.N.*, Xie X.J.*, Li, X., Liu, M., Gao, X., Pei, X., Liao, Y., Du, W.#, and Ji, J.Y.# (2017) Reversal of hyperactive Wnt signaling-dependent adipocyte defects by peptide boronic acids. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 114 (36): E7469-E7478 (* Equal contribution authors; # Corresponding authors)
  • Xie, X.J., Hsu, F.N., Gao, X., Xu, W., Ni, J.Q., Xing, Y., Huang, L., Hsiao, H.C., Zheng, H., Wang, C., Zheng, Y., Xiaoli, A.M., Yang, F., Bondos, S.E., Ji, J.Y. (2015) CDK8-Cyclin C mediates nutritional regulation of developmental transitions through the Ecdysone Receptor.  PLoS Biology 13(7): e1002207. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002207.
  • Abdulla, A., Zhang, Y., Hsu, F.N., Xiaoli, A.M., Zhao, X., Yang, E.S.T., Ji, J.Y., and Yang, F. (2014) Regulation of lipogenic gene expression by lysine-specific histone demethylase-1 (LSD1). Journal of Biological Chemistry 289, 29937-29947.
  • Zheng, Y., Hsu, F.N., Xu, W., Xie, X.J., Ren, X., Gao, X., Ni, J.Q., and Ji, J.Y. (2014) A developmental genetic analysis of the lysine demethylase KDM2 in Drosophila melanogaster. Mechanisms of Development 133, 36-53.
  • Xu, W., Amire-Brahimi, B., Xie, X.J., Huang, L., Ji, J.Y. (2014) All-atomic molecular dynamic studies of human CDK8: Insight on A-loop, point mutations and binding with its partner CycC. Computational Biology and Chemistry 51, 1-14.
  • Zhang, T., Liao, Y., Hsu, F.N., Zhang, R., Searle, J.S., Pei, X., Li, X., Ryoo, H.D., Ji, J.Y., Du, W. (2014) Elevated TORC1 activity mediates synthetic lethal interaction between deregulated Wnt signaling and Rb inactivation. PLoS Genetics 10, e1004357.
  • Gu, W., Wang, C., Li, W., Zhou, J., Yuan, C., Xie, X.J., Addya, S., Kong, B.# and Ji, J.Y.# (2013) Tumor suppressive effects of CDK8 in endometrial cancer cells. Cell Cycle 12, 987-999. (# Corresponding authors)
  • Ji, J.Y., Miles, W.O. Korenjak, M., Zheng, Y., and Dyson, N.J. (2012) In vivo regulation of E2F1 by Polycomb group genes in G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 2, 1651-1660.
  • Zhao, X.*, Feng, D.*, Wang, Q.*, Abdulla, A., Xie, X.J., Zhou, J., Sun, Y., Yang, E.S., Liu, P., Vaitheesvaran, B., Bridges, L., Kurland, I., Strich, R., Ni, J.Q., Wang, C., Ericsson, J., Pessin, J.E., Ji, J.Y.#, and Yang, F.# (2012) Regulation of lipogenesis by cyclin-dependent kinase 8-mediated control of SREBP-1. Journal of Clinical Investigation122, 2417-2427. (* Equal contribution authors; # Corresponding authors)
  • Xu, W., and Ji, J.Y. (2011) Dysregulation of CDK8 and Cyclin C in tumorigenesis. Journal of Genetics and Genomics 38, 439-452.
  • Ji, J.Y., and Dyson, N.J. (2010) Interplay between E2F-dependent transcription and cyclin-dependent kinases. G. Enders (ed.) Cell Cycle Deregulation in Cancer, Springer Science, pp 23-41.
  • Zhang, J.M., Ji, J.Y., Yu, M., Overholtzer, M., Smolen, G.A., Wang, R., Brugge, J.S., Dyson, N.J., and Haber, D.A. (2009) YAP-dependent secretion of amphiregulin contributes to its role in cellular transformation and progenitor expansion. Nature Cell Biology 11, 1444-1450.
  • Morris, E.J. *, Ji, J.Y.*, Yang, F., Di Stefano, L., Herr, A., Moon, N.S., Kwon, E.J., Haigis, K.M., Näär, A.M., and Dyson, N.J. (2008) E2F1 represses β-catenin transcription and is antagonized by both pRB and CDK8. Nature 455, 552-556. (* Equal contribution authors)
  • Di Stefano, L., Ji, J.Y., Moon, N.S., Herr, A., and Dyson, N. (2007) Mutation of Drosophila Lsd1 disrupts H3-K4 methylation, resulting in tissue-specific defects during development. Current Biology 17, 808-812.
  • Ji, J.Y., Crest, J., and Schubiger, G. (2005). Genetic interactions between Cdk1-CyclinB and the Separase complex in Drosophila.  Development 132, 1875-1884.
  • Ji, J.Y., Squrriell, J.M., and Schubiger, G. (2004). Both Cyclin B levels and DNA-replication checkpoint regulate the early embryonic mitoses in Drosophila. Development 131, 401-411. (Cover image)
  • Ji, J.Y., Haghnia, M., Trusty, C., Goldstein, L.S.B., and Schubiger, G. (2002). A genetic screen for suppressors and enhancers of the Drosophila Cdk1-Cyclin B identifies maternal factors that regulate microtubule and microfilament stability. Genetics 162, 1179-1195.

Complete List of Published Work:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/jun-yuan.ji.1/bibliography/49196539/public/?sortby=pubDate&sdirection=descending

Areas of Expertise

Research

Our long-term goal is to understand the regulatory mechanisms of how the transcriptional machinery is fine-tuned by signaling pathways and environmental perturbations in different developmental, physiological, and pathological contexts. Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and cultured mammalian cells as the experimental systems, we combine genetic, cell biological, and biochemical approaches to elucidate the conserved molecular and genetic regulatory circuits that control gene expression, lipid homeostasis, cell growth and proliferation during normal development and...