Zhao Zhang, Ph.D.

Currently seeking M.S. & Ph.D. students

• Professional Background

  Education

  • 2014 - PhD - Bioinformatics - Zhejiang University
  • 2009 - BS - Bioinformatics - Huazhong University of Science And Technology

  Training

  • 2015 - Postdoc Fellow - Cancer epigenetics - UT Health San Antonio

  Appointments

  • 11/2024 - Assistant Professor - UT Health San Antonio
  • 04/2021 - Assistant Professor/Research - UT Health San Antonio
  • 04/2021 - Director of Laboratory of Spatial Genomics at BASiC - UT Health San Antonio

• Instruction & Training

  • 2019-now, CSAT5007 Methods in Cell Biology
  • 2024-now, MMED5015 Modern Methods in Molecular Analysis
  • 2024-now, MMED 5019 Colloquium in Molecular Medicine
  • 2024-now, MMED 6016 Advanced Molecular, Cellular, and Synthetic Biology

• Research & Grants

  My research aims to identify the key drivers of enhancer reprogramming and metabolic rewiring in invasive or therapy-resistant cancers by utilizing cutting-edge techniques in computational biology, RNA biology, and systems biology.

  Grants

  U01 CA283749

  NIH/NCI

  Tim H.H. Huang (PI), Role: Co-I

  04/01/2024-03/31/2029

  The role of tumor-macrophage hybrid cells in prostate cancer metastasis

                                     

  R35 GM153228

  NIH/ NIGMS

  Zhijie Liu (PI), Role: Co-I

  04/01/2024-03/31/2029

  Mechanisms of Enhancer Dynamics and Assembly in Gene Regulation

   

  R01 CA269766

  NIH/NCI

  Josephine Taverna (PI), Role: Co-I

  06/01/2023-05/31/2028

  Toward Clinical Trial: AXL-STAT3 Targeting of Lung Tumor Microenvironments

   

  R01 CA279696

  NIH/NCI

  Jihoon Lee (PI), Role: Co-I

  04/01/2023-03/31/2028

  The role and mechanism of RNA m6A modification in the pathogenesis and drug-resistance of prostate cancer

   

  R37 CA249305

  NIH/NCI

  Lingtao Jin (PI), Role: Collaborator

  02/01/2020-01/31/2027

  The role of NFIB-MAST1 signaling in mediating adaptive cisplatin resistance in SCLC

   

• Publications

  1. Zhang C, Yu M, Hepperla AJ, Zhang Z, Raj R, Zhong H, Zhou J, Hu L, Fang J, Liu H, Liang Q, Jia L, Xi S, Simon JM, Xu K, Liu Z, Nam Y, Kapur P, Zhang Q. Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor controls mA-dependent gene expression in renal tumorigenesis. J Clin Invest. 2024;134(8):e175703.
  2. Qiu Z, Khalife J, Ethiraj P, Jaafar C, Lin A-P, Holder KN, Ritter JP, Chiou L, Morales GH, Aslam S, Zhang Z, Liu Z, Arya S, Gupta YK, Dahia P, Aguiar R. IRF8-mutant B cell Lymphoma evades immunity through a CD74-dependent deregulation of antigen processing and presentation in MHCII complexes. Sci. Adv. 10, eadk2091.
  3. Chen L*, Zhang Z*, Han Q, Rodrigues L, Zboril E, Adhikari R, Li X, Ko SH, Xue P, Smith E, Xu K, Wang Q, Huang TH, Chong S, Liu Z. Hormone-induced enhancer assembly requires an optimal level of hormone receptor multivalent interactions. Mol Cell. 2023; 83: 3438-56. (*co-first author)
  4. Chou CW, Hung CN, Chiu CH, Tan X, Chen M, Saeed M, Liss MA, Wang CM, Lai Z, Osmulski PA, Gaczynska ME, Lin LL, Kirma NB, Xu K, Liu Z, Taverna JA, Chen CL**, Zhang Z**, Huang TH**. Phagocytosis-initiated tumor hybrid cells acquire c-Myc-mediated immunoevasion and plasticity for distant dissemination. Nat Commun. 2023;14 (**co-corresponding author)
  5. Hung CN, Chen M, DeArmond DT, Chiu CH, Limboy CA, Tan X, Kusi M, Chou CW, Lin LL, Zhang Z, Wang CM, Chen CL, Mitsuya K, Osmulski PA, Gaczynska ME, Kirma NB, Vadlamudi RK, Gibbons DL, Warner S, Brenner AJ, Mahadevan D, Michalek JE, Huang TH, Taverna JA. AXL-initiated paracrine activation of pSTAT3 enhances mesenchymal and vasculogenic supportive features of tumor-associated macrophages. Cell Rep. 2023;42(9): 113067.
  6. Liao Y, Chen CH, Xiao T, de la Pena Avalos B, Dray EV, Cai C, Gao S, Shah N, Zhang Z, Feit A, Xue P, Liu Z, Yang M, Lee JH, Xu H, Li W, Mei S, Pierre RS, Shu S, Fei T, Duarte M, Zhao J, Bradner JE, Polyak K, Kantoff PW, Long H, Balk SP, Liu XS, Brown M, Xu K. Inhibition of EZH2 transactivation function sensitizes solid tumors to genotoxic stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022;119(3).
  7. Li D, Yu X, Kottur J, Gong W, Zhang Z, Storey AJ, Tsai YH, Uryu H, Shen Y, Byrum SD, Edmondson RD, Mackintosh SG, Cai L, Liu Z, Aggarwal AK, Tackett AJ, Liu J, Jin J, Wang GG. Discovery of a dual WDR5 and Ikaros PROTAC degrader as an anti-cancer therapeutic. Oncogene. 2022;41(24):3328-40.
  8. Hong J*, Lee JH*, Zhang Z*, Wu Y, Yang M, Liao Y, de la Rosa R, Scheirer J, Pechacek D, Zhang N, Xu Z, Curiel T, Tan X, Huang TH, Xu K. PRC2-Mediated Epigenetic Suppression of Type I IFN-STAT2 Signaling Impairs Antitumor Immunity in Luminal Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 2022;82(24):4624-40. (*co-first author)
  9. Garcia-Martinez L, Adams AM, Chan HL, Nakata Y, Weich N, Stransky S, Zhang Z, Alshalalfa M, Sarria L, Mahal BA, Kesmodel SB, Celia-Terrassa T, Liu Z, Minucci S, Bilbao D, Sidoli S, Verdun RE, Morey L. Endocrine resistance and breast cancer plasticity are controlled by CoREST. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2022;29(11):1122-35.
  10. Tang D*, Zhang Z*, Zboril E, Wetzel MD, Xu X, Zhang W, Chen L, Liu Z. Pontin Functions as A Transcriptional Co-activator for Retinoic Acid-induced HOX Gene Expression. J Mol Biol. 2021;433(14):166928. (*co-first author)
  11. Lee JH*, Hong J*, Zhang Z*, de la Pena Avalos B, Proietti CJ, Deamicis AR, Guzman GP, Lam HM, Garcia J, Roudier MP, Sisk AE, De La Rosa R, Vu K, Yang M, Liao Y, Scheirer J, Pechacek D, Yadav P, Rao MK, Zheng S, Johnson-Pais TL, Leach RJ, Elizalde PV, Dray E, Xu K. Regulation of telomere homeostasis and genomic stability in cancer by N (6)-adenosine methylation (m(6)A). Sci Adv. 2021;7(31). (*co-first author)
  12. Dai X, Bu X, Gao Y, Guo J, Hu J, Jiang C, Zhang Z, Xu K, Duan J, He S, Zhang J, Wan L, Liu T, Zhou X, Hung MC, Freeman GJ, Wei W. Energy status dictates PD-L1 protein abundance and anti-tumor immunity to enable checkpoint blockade. Mol Cell. 2021;81(11):2317-31 e6.
  13. Zhu N, Zhang J, Du Y, Qin X, Miao R, Nan J, Chen X, Sun J, Zhao R, Zhang X, Shi L, Li X, Lin Y, Wei W, Mao A, Zhang Z, Stark GR, Wang Y, Yang J. Loss of ZIP facilitates JAK2-STAT3 activation in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;117(26):15047-54.
  14. Zhang Z, Yu W, Tang D, Zhou Y, Bi M, Wang H, Zheng Y, Chen M, Li L, Xu X, Zhang W, Tao H, Jin VX, Liu Z, Chen L. Epigenomics-based identification of oestrogen-regulated long noncoding RNAs in ER+ breast cancer. RNA Biol. 2020;17(11):1590-602. (First author)
  15. Yang M*, Lee JH*, Zhang Z*, De La Rosa R, Bi M, Tan Y, Liao Y, Hong J, Du B, Wu Y, Scheirer J, Hong T, Li W, Fei T, Hsieh CL, Liu Z, Li W, Rosenfeld MG, Xu K. Enhancer RNAs Mediate Estrogen-Induced Decommissioning of Selective Enhancers by Recruiting ERalpha and Its Cofactor. Cell Rep. 2020;31(12):107803. (*co-first author)
  16. Bi M*, Zhang Z*, Jiang YZ, Xue P, Wang H, Lai Z, Fu X, De Angelis C, Gong Y, Gao Z, Ruan J, Jin VX, Marangoni E, Montaudon E, Glass CK, Li W, Huang TH, Shao ZM, Schiff R, Chen L, Liu Z. Enhancer reprogramming driven by high-order assemblies of transcription factors promotes phenotypic plasticity and breast cancer endocrine resistance. Nat Cell Biol. 2020;22(6):701-15. (*co-first author)
  17. Zhu C*, Li L*, Zhang Z*, Bi M*, Wang H, Su W, Hernandez K, Liu P, Chen J, Chen M, Huang TH, Chen L, Liu Z. A Non-canonical Role of YAP/TEAD Is Required for Activation of Estrogen-Regulated Enhancers in Breast Cancer. Mol Cell. 2019;75(4):791-806 e8. (*co-first author)
  18. Xu A, Zhang Z, Ko SH, Fisher AL, Liu Z, Chen L. Microtubule regulators act in the nervous system to modulate fat metabolism and longevity through DAF‐16 in C. elegans. Aging Cell. 2019;18(2):e12884.
  19. Mayfield JE, Irani S, Escobar EE, Zhang Z, Burkholder NT, Robinson MR, Mehaffey MR, Sipe SN, Yang W, Prescott NA, Kathuria KR, Liu Z, Brodbelt JS, Zhang Y. Tyr1 phosphorylation promotes phosphorylation of Ser2 on the C-terminal domain of eukaryotic RNA polymerase II by P-TEFb. Elife. 2019;8.
  20. Wu Y, Zhang Z, Cenciarini ME, Proietti CJ, Amasino M, Hong T, Yang M, Liao Y, Chiang HC, Kaklamani VG, Jeselsohn R, Vadlamudi RK, Huang TH, Li R, De Angelis C, Fu X, Elizalde PV, Schiff R, Brown M, Xu K. Tamoxifen Resistance in Breast Cancer Is Regulated by the EZH2-ERalpha-GREB1 Transcriptional Axis. Cancer Res. 2018;78(3):671-84.
  21. Wan L, Xu K, Wei Y, Zhang J, Han T, Fry C, Zhang Z, Wang YV, Huang L, Yuan M, Xia W, Chang WC, Huang WC, Liu CL, Chang YC, Liu J, Wu Y, Jin VX, Dai X, Guo J, Liu J, Jiang S, Li J, Asara JM, Brown M, Hung MC, Wei W. Phosphorylation of EZH2 by AMPK Suppresses PRC2 Methyltransferase Activity and Oncogenic Function. Mol Cell. 2018;69(2):279-91 e5.
  22. Qin K, Zhang N, Zhang Z, Nipper M, Zhu Z, Leighton J, Xu K, Musi N, Wang P. SIRT6-mediated transcriptional suppression of Txnip is critical for pancreatic beta cell function and survival in mice. Diabetologia. 2018;61(4):906-18.
  23. Li Q, Zhou Y, Jiao Y, Zhang Z, Bai L, Tong L, Yang X, Sommer B, Hofestädt R, Chen M. DaTo: an atlas of biological databases and tools. J. Integr. Bioinform. 2016;13(4):30-8.
  24. Zhang Z, Jiang L, Wang J, Gu P, Chen M. MTide: an integrated tool for the identification of miRNA–target interaction in plants. Bioinformatics. 2015;31(2):290-1. (First author)
  25. Tang L, Zhang Z, Gu P, Chen M. Construction and analysis of microRNA-transcription factor regulation network in arabidopsis. IET Sys Biol. 2014;8(3):76-86.
  26. Chen D, Fu L-Y, Zhang Z, Li G, Zhang H, Jiang L, Harrison AP, Shanahan HP, Klukas C, Zhang H-Y. Dissecting the chromatin interactome of microRNA genes. Nucleic Acids Res. 2014;42(5):3028-43.
  27. Xu C, Liu L, Zhang Z, Jin D, Qiu J, Chen M. Genome-scale metabolic model in guiding metabolic engineering of microbial improvement. Appl. Microbiol Biotechnol. 2013;97(2):519-39.
  28. Lu X, Chen D, Shu D, Zhang Z, Wang W, Klukas C, Chen L-l, Fan Y, Chen M, Zhang C. The differential transcription network between embryo and endosperm in the early developing maize seed. Plant Physiol. 2013;162(1):440-55.
  29. Chen D, Yuan C, Zhang J, Zhang Z, Bai L, Meng Y, Chen L-L, Chen M. PlantNATsDB: a comprehensive database of plant natural antisense transcripts. Nucleic Acids Res. 2012;40(D1):D1187-D93.