Prof. Qian Tao






Name


Qian Tao

Chinese Name


陶谦

Qualifications


PhD., MPhil., BSc.

Rank


Professor

Email


qtao@cuhk.edu.hk

ResearchGate


https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Qian_Tao4

Specific Research / Sites of Interest


Cancer epigenomics: identification of novel tumor suppressor genes (TSG) and their functional/mechanistic characterization in tumorigenesis

Identification of epigenetic modifier genes involved in aberrant CpG methylation and chromatin-remodeling in tumors

Development of epigenetic biomarkers and epigenetic therapeutics

Epigenetic regulation of EBV genes and EBV-modulated aberrant epigenetic programming in EBV pathogenesis


Short Biography


Prof. Tao obtained his PhD in Molecular Pathology from the University of Hong Kong and did his postdoc training in Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1995 to 1999. He was appointed as Assistant Professor in Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1999, and later to Associate Professor and Full Professor (2008) in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He leads the Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory in the State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Prof Tao’s group has established the CpG methylomes of common tumors in Hong Kong including nasopharyngeal, esophageal, lung, digestive cancers and lymphomas; identified multiple novel TSGs (e.g. PCDH10, RASAL1, ZNF382, BLU, ZNF545, BCL6B, JPH3, DLEC1, etc) and characterized their molecular functions in cell signaling and tumorigenesis; and also developed promising epigenetic biomarkers and therapeutics. He has published 154 papers (total citations: >7900; h-index: 55) on cancer epigenetics and cancer biology in international journals, including PNAS, Lancet, JCO, Cancer Res, Blood, Gut, Hepatology and Theranostics, as well as 4 book chapters on epigenetics. He is an external reviewer for multiple scientific journals and an academic Editor for some journals. He also serves as a grant review panel member for China Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) and a reviewer for several other agents including AICR, Wellcome Trust, MRC/UK, Dutch Cancer Society, Singapore National Medical Research Council, China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). He has been a vice-President for the international Epigenetics Society (http://epigeneticssocietyint.com/) since 2008.

Most Representative Publications


L Li, J Xu, G Qiu, J Ying, Z Du, T Xiang, KY Wong, G Srivastava, XF Zhu, TS Mok, AT Chan, FK Chan, RF Ambinder, Q Tao. Epigenomic characterization of a p53-regulated 3p22.2 tumor suppressor that inhibits STAT3 phosphorylation via protein docking and is frequently methylated in esophageal and other carcinomas. Theranostics 2017, Nov 1, online (http://www.thno.org/v08p0061.htm).

Li LL, Zhang Y, Fan YC, Sun K, Su XW, Du ZF, Tsao SW, Loh TKS, Sun H, Chan ATC, Zeng YX, Chan WY, Chan FKL, Tao Q. Characterization of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma methylome identifies aberrant disruption of key signaling pathways and methylated tumor suppressor genes. Epigenomics 2015; 7: 155-173.

Wang SY, Cheng YD, Du W, Lu LN, Zhou L, Wang HT, Kang W, Li XX, Tao Q*, Sung JJY, Yu J*. Zinc-finger protein 545 is a novel tumour suppressor that acts by inhibiting ribosomal RNA transcription in gastric cancer. Gut 2013; 62: 833-841. (*Corresponding authors)

Li L, Ying J, Li H, Zhang Y, Shu XS, Fan Y, Tan J, Cao Y, Tsao SW, Srivastava G, Chan AT, Tao Q. The human cadherin 11 is a pro-apoptotic tumor suppressor modulating cell stemness through WNT/β-catenin signaling and silenced in common carcinomas. Oncogene 2012; 31:3901-12.

Cheng Y, Geng H, Cheng SH, Liang P, Bai Y, Li J, Srivastava G, Ng MH, Fukagawa T, Wu X, Chan AT, Tao Q. KRAB zinc finger protein ZNF382 is a proapoptotic tumor suppressor that represses multiple oncogenes and is commonly silenced in multiple carcinomas. Cancer Res 2010; 70:6516-26.

Yu J, Tao Q*, Cheung KF, Jin H, Poon FF, Wang X, Li H, Cheng YY, Ebert MP, R?cken C, Chan AT, Sung JJ* (*corresp authors). Epigenetic identification of UCHL1 as a functional tumor suppressor and biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma and other digestive tumors. Hepatology 2008; 48:508-18.

Jin H, Wang X, Ying J, Wong AH, Cui Y, Srivastava G, Shen ZY, Li EM, Zhang Q, Jin J, Kupzig S, Chan AT, Cullen PJ, Tao Q. Epigenetic silencing of a Ca(2+)-regulated Ras GTPase-activating protein RASAL defines a new mechanism of Ras activation in human cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007; 104:12353-8.

Ying J, Li H, Seng TJ, Langford C, Srivastava G, Tsao SW, Putti T, Murray P, Chan AT, Tao Q. Functional epigenetics identifies a protocadherin - PCDH10 as a tumor suppressor for nasopharyngeal, esophageal and multiple other carcinomas with frequent methylation. Oncogene 2006; 25:1070-80.

Chan AT#, Tao Q#, Robertson KD, Flinn IW, Mann RB, Klencke B, Leung T, Johnson PJ, Ambinder RF (#: co-first author). Azacitidine Induces Demethylation of the Epstein-Barr Virus Genome in Tumors. J Clin Oncol 2004; 22:1373-1381. (Editorial by Dowell JE & Minna JD. JCO 2004; 22:1353-1355).

Tao Q, Huang H, Geiman TM, Lim CY, Fu L, Qiu GH, Robertson KD. Defective de novo methylation of viral and cellular DNA sequences in ICF syndrome cells. Human Mol Genetics 2002; 11:2091-2102.


Additional Information


Reviewer for grant committees:
Worldwide Cancer Research, USA (The American Institute for Cancer Research, AICR)
Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (MRC), UK
Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding)
National Medical Research Council, Biomedical Research Council, Ministry of Education, Singapore
Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research
Foundation for Polish Science, Poland
Multi-Year Research Grant, University of Macau, Macau
Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong
Scientific Reviewer for Health and Medical Research Fund, Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong
Panel member and reviewer for National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (中国国家自然科学基金医学科学领域评审组专家)
Reviewer for State Natural Science Award of the People's Republic of China (国家科技奖评审专家), 中国国家科技部 (MOST - Ministry of Science and Technology)
Academic Advisor, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Hospital, Guangdong, China
Visiting and guest professorship:
2009- Visiting Professor, The Cancer Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China
9/2008- Visiting Chair Professor, National Research Center for Urologic Oncology of China, Peking University 1st Hospital & Institute of Urology, Beijing, China
Editorship and Reviewer for scientific journals:
Editorial Board/Academic Editor: J Clin Epig; Epig Diagnosis & Therapy; PLoS ONE; Chin J Cancer
Regular reviewer for 55 scientific journals/Publishers including "Lancet"; "Cancer Res"; "HMG"; "MCB"; "NAR"; "Oncogene"; "PLoS Genetics"; "JNCI", "Blood"; etc.