Dr. Taiping Chen

Regular Member

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Molecular Carcinogenesis
The Virginia Harris Cockrell Cancer Research Center

My laboratory is located in Smithville, Texas, at UT Science Park

Research Interests:

• Epigenetic reprogramming during mammalian development
• Crosstalk between DNA methylation and histone modifications
• Epigenetic mechanisms in cancer and other diseases
• Stem cell biology

Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation and histone modifications, play crucial roles in regulating chromatin structure and gene expression. Over the last two decades, great progress has been made in identifying the enzymes responsible for adding and erasing these modifications. However, the biological functions of most epigenetic modifiers remain poorly understood. Our laboratory is interested in unraveling epigenetic mechanisms in health and disease. We use a variety of model systems, including mice, embryonic stem (ES) cells, and other cell lines, to investigate the roles of epigenetic modifiers in various biological processes, including embryogenesis, gametogenesis, metabolism, and tumorigenesis. Currently, we are actively pursuing the following projects: 1) Defining the interplays between histone lysine methylation and DNA methylation in the establishment of genomic imprinting during gametogenesis; 2) Exploring the role of the histone demethylase KDM1B (also known as LSD2 or AOF1) in cancer formation and progression; and 3) Investigating the roles of the histone methyltransferase SetDB1 (also known as ESET or KMT1E) in metabolism, immunity, tissue regeneration and repair, and stem cell functions.

Selected Publications:

Lohmann F, Loureiro J, Su H, Fang Q, Lei H, Lewis T, Yang Y, Labow M, Li E, Chen T and Kadam S (2010). KMT1E mediated H3K9 methylation is required for the maintenance of embryonic stem cells by repressing trophectoderm differentiation. Stem Cells 28, 201-212.

Ciccone DN, Su H, Hevi S, Gay F, Lei H, Bajko J, Xu G, Li E and Chen T (2009). KDM1B is a histone H3K4 demethylase required to establish maternal genomic imprints. Nature 461, 415-418.

Wang J, Hevi S, Kurash JK, Lei H, Gay F, Bajko J, Su H, Sun W, Chang H, Xu G, Gaudet F, Li E and Chen T. (2009) The lysine demethylase LSD1 (KDM1) is required for maintenance of global DNA methylation. Nat Genet 41, 125-129.

Chen T, Hevi S, Gay F, Tsujimoto N, He T, Zhang B, Ueda Y and Li E (2007). Complete inactivation of DNMT1 leads to mitotic catastrophe in human cancer cells. Nat Genet 39, 391-396.

Additional Publications

Program Affiliation:

Program in Molecular Carcinogenesis