UT Health San Antonio

Hai Rao, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair

Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China

We are focusing on the end of protein's life cycle, its death, which is essential for cell growth and development. Regulated protein destruction is mainly carried out by the proteasome, a multi-subunit protease that requires ubiquitin molecule as a ticket for entry. We employ multidisciplinary approaches to tackle the elusive mechanisms and crucial functions of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in vivo and in vitro. Key cellular regulators under our investigation include cell cycle kinase Mps1, tumor suppressor p53, prion protein PrP, misfolded protein CFTR. We have established unique angles and tools to unravel the function of proteolysis in cancer and age-related neurodegenerative diseases.