Education

1989, B.Sc., Nanjing University;

1995, M.Sc., Zhongshan University;

1999, Ph.D., Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Professional Experience

1999-2006: Postdoctoral Follow, University of Colorado at Boulder;

2006-2008: Senior Research Associate, University of Southern California;

2008-Present: Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University.

Research Area

Transcription is a key step for gene expression regulation, which in turn globally programs or reprograms the cells. In prokaryotic cells, two-component system (TCS), including histidine kinase (SK) and response regulator (RR), is responsible for stimuli induced transcription. Our lab uses VicRK, one of streptococci TCS as a model system to understand how the intra/extracellular signals regulate the transcription of bacteria. In eukaryote cells, transcription factors as well as cofactors are centered on the specific enhancer regions of genes to form high-order regulatory assemblies. The most, if not all, of these cofactors are histone modification enzymes that convey a variety of upstream signals to epigenetic marks. Our lab is taking a structural and functional approach to understand molecular mechanisms of the epigenetic modifications and transcriptional regulation, in particular the histone acetylation by p300, CBP and PCAF.

Selected Publications

1. Ahmad A, Cai Y, Chen X, Shuai J, Han A. Conformational Dynamics of Response Regulator RegX3 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PLoS One. 2015, 10(7): e0133389.

2. Shi S, Lin J, Cai Y, Yu J, Hong H, Ji K, Downey JS, Lu X, Chen R, Han J, Han A. Dimeric Structure of p300/CBP associated factor. BMC Struct Biol. 2014, 14: 2. 

3. Wang C, Sang JY, Wang JW, Su MY, Downey JS, Wu QG, Wang SD, Cai YF, Xu XZ, Wu J, Senadheera DB, Cvitkovitch DG, Chen L, Goodman SD,  Han AD. Mechanistic Insights Revealed by the Crystal Structure of a Histidine Kinase with Signal Transducer and Sensor Domains. PLOS BIOLOGY . 2013, 11(2): e1001493.

4. Jayathilaka N, Han AD, Gaffney KJ, Dey R, Jarusiewicz JA, Noridomi K, Philips MA, Lei X, He J, Ye J, Gao T, Petasis NA, Chen L. Inhibition of the funcation of class Iia HDACs by blocking their interaction with MEF2.  Nucleic Acid Research. 2012, 40(12):5378-88.

5. Mao YJ, Lin JY, Zhou AB, Ji KM, Downey JS, Chen RC, Han AD. Quikgene:a gene synthesis method integrated with ligation free cloning. ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY. 2011, 415(1): 21-26.

6. He J, Ye J, Cai YF, Riquelme C, Liu JO, Liu XD, Han AD, Chen L. Structure of p300 bound to MEF2 on DNA reveals a mechanism of enhanceosome assembly. NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH. 2011,  39(10): 4464-4474.

7. Wu YQ, Dey R, Han AD, Jayathilake N, Philips M, Ye J, Chen L. Structure of the MADS-box/MEF2 domain of MEF2 bound to DNA and its implication for myocardin recruitment. Journal of Molecular Biology. 2010, 397(2): 520-533.

8. Guo L, Han A, Bates DL. Cao J, Chen L. Crystal structure of a conserved N-terminal domain of histone deacetylase 4 reveals functional insights into glutamine-rich domains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 2007,104(11): 4297-4302.

9. Han A, He J, Wu Y, Liu JO, Chen L. Mechanism of recuitment of class II histone deacetylases by Myocyte enhancer factor-2. Journal of Molecular Biology. 2005, 345(1): 91-102.

10. Han A, Pan F, Stroud JC, Youn HD, Liu JO, Chen L. Sequence-specific recruitment of transcriptional co-repressor Cabin1 by Myocyte Enhancer Factor-2. Nature. 2003, 422(6933): 730-734.