Chang Jiang Scholar：Kun Ping Lu-Southern Medical Uni

Chang Jiang Scholar：Kun Ping Lu

Basic Information：

Name: Kun Ping Lu

Type of Supervisor: PHD Supervisor

Field of Research: Cell Cycle, Telomere Maintenance, Tumorigenesis and Alzheimer

Contact: klu@bidmc.harvard.edu

Academic Activities: Member of American Association for the Advancement Science; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; American Society for Microbiology; Committee member of National Institutes of Health; National Natural Science Foundation of China; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University; Reviewer of Nature, Cell, EMBO and other famous international journals; Judge of National Science Foundation; Australian Foundation of Science, Hongkong Science Foundation and other foundations.

Dr. Lu research focuses on the role and regulation of cell proliferation and telomere maintenance during aging and aging related diseases. By studying mitotic regulation, Dr. Lu has identified two novel human proteins, Pin1 and Pin2/TRF1. Dr. Lu laboratory has further discovered that Pin1 is a novel prolyl isomerase that regulates protein conformation after phosphorylation, thereby functioning as a novel molecular timer in phosphorylation signaling in diverse cellular processes. Furthermore, his laboratory has demonstrated that Pin1 deregulation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of a growing number of human diseases and may function as a novel therapeutic target. For example, Pin1 is prevalently overexpressed in human cancers and functions as a novel catalyst essential for multiple oncogenic pathways as well as for tumor development, suggesting that Pin1 may be an attractive new anticancer target. Pin1 is highly expressed in neurons and is pivotal in protecting against age-dependent tau- and Abeta-related pathologies and neurodegeneration, but is down-regulated or inactivated in Alzheimer’s disease brains, indicating that Pin1 is an important new enzyme in Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, Dr. Lu laboratory has shown that Pin2/TRF1 is a telomere protein that has a dual role in telomere maintenance and mitotic checkpoint regulation, and discovered the Pin2/TRF1-interacting protein PinX1, the first endogenous telomerase inhibitor in mammals and a putative tumor suppressor.

Personal Honors:

Second Prize Winner of National Award for Natural Sciences(First author), 2011; First Prize Winner of Guangdong Provincial Award for Science and Technology (First author), 2009; Second Prize Winner of Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award(First author), 2009; Second Prize Winner of Natural Science Award of Ministry of Education(First author), 2009; Top 100 Talents of Nanyue, 2013; Winner of the title of Renowned Teacher of Guangdong Provincial Universities, 2011; Excellent Researcher of Science and Technology, 2010; Supervisor of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation, 2008.

Published Books:

1． Lu, K. P. and Hunter, T. 1997, Pin1. in Guidebook to Molecular Chaperones and Protein Folding Catalysts (M.-J. Gething, ed.). pp443-446. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

2． Lu, K. P. 1999, The essential peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1 is a phosphorylation-dependent mitotic modulator. in Future Aspects in Peptide Chemistry (W. Voelter and G. Fischer, eds.). Vol. 1, pp 178-186.

Key Papers:

1.Lee TH, Tun-Kyi A, Shi R, Lim J, Soohoo C, Finn G, Balastik M, Pastorino L, Wulf G, Zhou XZ, Lu KP. Essential role of Pin1 in the regulation of TRF1 stability and telomere maintenance. Nat Cell Biol. 2009, 11(1):97-105.
2.Lim J, Balastik M, Lee TH, Nakamura K, Liou YC, Sun A, Finn G, Pastorino L, Lee VM, Lu KP. Pin1 has opposite effects on wild-type and P301L tau stability and tauopathy. J Clin Invest. 2008, 118(5):1877-1889.
3.Nicholson LK, Lu KP. Prolyl cis-trans Isomerization as a molecular timer in Crk signaling. Mol Cell. 2007, 25(4):483-485.

Projects:

1.2007-2012 Conformational Dynamics in Pin1 regulation of APP processing and Abeta production(Drs. Nicholson and Lu share equally both in science and budget) NCI/NIA(R01 grant)
2.2007-2009 Role of the Pin1 and presenilin-1 interaction in vivo American Health Assistance Foundation Award
3.2006-2011 Role of PinX1 in the etiology of liver cancer NCI/NIH (R01 grant, PI: Xiao Zhen Zhou)

9.8 million Yuan research funds at disposal.