Jiang Lab

Our lab studies how gene dysregulation at the chromatin, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional levels causes disease including cancer, and how we may develop novel strategies to treat disease based on these mechanisms. Chromatin and gene regulators are extensively associated with cancer and developmental disorders, but two important questions need to be addressed in order to better target these regulators: (1) What are their functional importance in normal physiology and disease, and (2) what molecular properties are crucial for their functions in disease control. Our earlier studies aimed to address the functional importance of the H3K4 methylation pathway in normal stem cells and cancer, and have revealed a differential requirement of H3K4 methylation in normal versus cancer cells, despite its genome-wide association with active transcription. Our interest in addressing the second question led us to discover regulated and proper condensation as a key and previously unappreciated molecular property of many chromatin and gene regulators that is crucial for regulating cancer and stem cell function. These findings prompt my lab to actively develop strategies to target these proteins and properties for potential disease treatment.