Jian Li, PhD

Biography

"The health of proteome is essential for cellular and organismal functions, but is constantly challenged by environmental and genetic perturbations. Loss of proteostasis is a hallmark of aging and age-related diseases. Cells have evolved robust stress responses controlled by conserved stress-responsive transcription factors (TFs) to cope with protein damage and misfolding, and these TFs are prominent suppressors of age-related decline of proteostasis. Our lab is interested in understanding the roles of stress-responsive TFs in diverse physiological conditions, and their relevance in human diseases.
Our current studies have been focusing on the heat shock transcriptional factor 1 (HSF1), the central regulator of the heat shock response (HSR). Our work and others have indicated that HSF1 is able to drive transcription to regulate development, reproduction, longevity, and energy metabolism in manners that are different from the HSR. Conversely, dysregulation of HSF1 underlies age-related neurodegenerative disorders and malignancy. Our current investigations combine genetics and genomics to understand HSF1 in these physiological and pathological conditions in addition to its canonical roles in the HSR. We aim to establish a framework for future studies to ultimately unravel the fundamental mechanisms linking transcription control of proteostasis and other important cellular processes through regulation of master stress-responsive TFs."

Email

jian-li@omrf.org

Publications

Research Interests:

• Proteostasis
• Stress Response
• HSF1
• Reproductive Aging
• Cancer