Tian Zhang

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Primary Location

1340 Jefferson Park Ave. Pinn Hall Room 6053
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Website

Bio & Overview

Protein abundance and post-translational modifications (PTMs) are tightly regulated to control cellular activities and developmental processes. Dysregulated protein function, either through abnormal protein levels or PTMs, disrupts normal cellular activities and can lead to complex diseases. Studies focusing on kinases and phosphatases involved in cancer development have identified targets, leading to many therapeutic discoveries. Targeting kinases, such as EGFR, ABL and more recently CDK4/6, has been an effective therapeutic strategy in many cancer types. Despite these advances, challenges remain. How complex interactions between a patient’s genetic background and their environment influences protein and PTMs in cancer growth and treatment is largely unknown. Tumor heterogeneity, and drug resistance and the limitation of druggable targets remain problems in kinase-targeted cancer therapies. Therefore, an urgent need exists for target identification and drug discovery efforts. The continual development of more accurate, faster, comprehensive, and affordable proteomics and chemoproteomics technologies has greatly expanded our capacity to understand protein and PTMs regulation in disease models and to discover new therapeutic treatments. In the Zhang Lab, we will integrate high-throughput proteomic, chemical, genetics and computational tools to investigate how related factors influence protein abundance and PTMs through diverse mechanisms to facilitate therapeutic treatment development for diseases, especially cancer.

Academic Information

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Primary Education

Ph.D., General Biology, University of Rochester, 2017

Research Interests

Integrating high-throughput proteomic, chemical, genetic and computational tools for target identification and drug discovery in cancer biology

Research Disciplines

Biochemistry
Bioinformatics and Genomics
Biotechnology
Cancer Biology
Genetics
Molecular Pharmacology

Research Opportunities

Biochemistry
Bioinformatics & Genomics
Biotechnology
Cancer Biology
Molecular Pharmacology

PhD Programs

Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics

Selected Publications

2023

Aydin, S., Pham, D. T., Zhang, T., Keele, G. R., Skelly, D. A., Paulo, J. A., . . . Munger, S. C. (2023). Genetic dissection of the pluripotent proteome through multi-omics data integration. CELL GENOMICS, 3(4). doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100283

Zhang, T., Keele, G. R., Gyuricza, I. G., Vincent, M., Brunton, C., Bell, T. A., . . . Churchill, G. A. (2023). Multi-omics analysis identifies drivers of protein phosphorylation. GENOME BIOLOGY, 24(1). doi:10.1186/s13059-023-02892-2

Yu, Q., Liu, X., Keller, M. P., Navarrete-Perea, J., Zhang, T., Fu, S., . . . Gygi, S. P. (2023). Sample multiplexing-based targeted pathway proteomics with real-time analytics reveals the impact of genetic variation on protein expression. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 14(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36269-7

2022

Xiao, H., Bozi, L. H. M., Sun, Y., Riley, C. L., Philip, V. M., Chen, M., . . . Chouchani, E. T. (2022). Architecture of the outbred brown fat proteome defines regulators of metabolic physiology. CELL, 185(24), 4654-+. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.10.003

Zhang, T. (2022). TMT29 plex: Higher order multiplexing with inherent interference correction. PROTEOMICS, 22(19-20). doi:10.1002/pmic.202200260

Si, L., Bai, H., Oh, C. Y., Jiang, A., Hong, F., Zhang, T., . . . Ingber, D. E. (2022). Self-assembling short immunostimulatory duplex RNAs with broad-spectrum antiviral activity. MOLECULAR THERAPY NUCLEIC ACIDS, 29, 923-940. doi:10.1016/j.omtn.2022.08.031

Verdaguer, M. P., Zhang, T., Surve, S., Paulo, J. A., Wallace, C., Watkins, S. C., . . . Sorkin, A. (2022). Time-resolved proximity labeling of protein networks associated with ligand-activated EGFR. CELL REPORTS, 39(11). doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110950

Suski, J. M., Ratnayeke, N., Braun, M., Zhang, T., Strmiska, V., Michowski, W., . . . Sicinski, P. (2022). CDC7-independent G1/S transition revealed by targeted protein degradation. NATURE, 605(7909), 357-+. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04698-x

Zhang, T., Fassl, A., Vaites, L. P., Fu, S., Sicinski, P., Paulo, J. A., & Gygi, S. P. (2022). Interrogating Kinase-Substrate Relationships with Proximity Labeling and Phosphorylation Enrichment. JOURNAL OF PROTEOME RESEARCH, 21(2), 494-506. doi:10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00865

2021

Qin, Y., Huttlin, E. L., Winsnes, C. F., Gosztyla, M. L., Wacheul, L., Kelly, M. R., . . . Ideker, T. (2021). A multi-scale map of cell structure fusing protein images and interactions. NATURE, 600(7889), 536-+. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04115-9

Kuiken, H. J., Dhakal, S., Selfors, L. M., Friend, C. M., Zhang, T., Callari, M., . . . Brugge, J. S. (2022). Clonal populations of a human TNBC model display significant functional heterogeneity and divergent growth dynamics in distinct contexts. ONCOGENE, 41(1), 112-124. doi:10.1038/s41388-021-02075-y

Keele, G. R., Zhang, T., Pham, D. T., Vincent, M., Bell, T. A., Hock, P., . . . Churchill, G. A. (2021). Regulation of protein abundance in genetically diverse mouse populations. CELL GENOMICS, 1(1). doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2021.100003

Huttlin, E. L., Bruckner, R. J., Navarrete-Perea, J., Cannon, J. R., Baltier, K., Gebreab, F., . . . Gygi, S. P. (2021). Dual proteome-scale networks reveal cell-specific remodeling of the human interactome. CELL, 184(11), 3022-+. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.011

Si, L., Bai, H., Rodas, M., Cao, W., Oh, C. Y., Jiang, A., . . . Ingber, D. E. (2021). A human-airway-on-a-chip for the rapid identification of candidate antiviral therapeutics and prophylactics. NATURE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, 5(8), 815-829. doi:10.1038/s41551-021-00718-9

Zhang, T., Keele, G. R., Churchill, G. A., Gygi, S. P., & Paulo, J. A. (2021). Strain-Specific Peptide (SSP) Interference Reference Sample: A Genetically Encoded Quality Control for Isobaric Tagging Strategies. ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, 93(12), 5241-5247. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.0c05483

2020

Takahashi, N., Cho, P., Selfors, L. M., Kuiken, H. J., Kaul, R., Fujiwara, T., . . . Brugge, J. S. (2020). 3D Culture Models with CRISPR Screens Reveal Hyperactive NRF2 as a Prerequisite for Spheroid Formation via Regulation of Proliferation and Ferroptosis. MOLECULAR CELL, 80(5). doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2020.10.010

Zhang, T., Gygi, S. P., & Paulo, J. A. (2021). Temporal Proteomic Profiling of SH-SY5Y Differentiation with Retinoic Acid Using FAIMS and Real-Time Searching. JOURNAL OF PROTEOME RESEARCH, 20(1), 704-714. doi:10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00614

Michowski, W., Chick, J. M., Chu, C., Kolodziejczyk, A., Wang, Y., Suski, J. M., . . . Sicinski, P. (2020). Cdk1 Controls Global Epigenetic Landscape in Embryonic Stem Cells. MOLECULAR CELL, 78(3), 459-+. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2020.03.010

Sharma, S., Zhang, T., Michowski, W., Rebecca, V. W., Xiao, M., Ferretti, R., . . . Sicinski, P. (2020). Targeting the cyclin-dependent kinase 5 in metastatic melanoma. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 117(14), 8001-8012. doi:10.1073/pnas.1912617117

2016

Zhang, T., Shen, S., Qu, J., & Ghaemmaghami, S. (2016). Global Analysis of Cellular Protein Flux Quantifies the Selectivity of Basal Autophagy. CELL REPORTS, 14(10), 2426-2439. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2016.02.040

2014

Zhang, T., Price, J. C., Nouri-Nigjeh, E., Li, J., Hellerstein, M. K., Qu, J., & Ghaemmaghami, S. (2014). Kinetics of precursor labeling in stable isotope labeling in cell cultures (SILAC) experiments.. Analytical chemistry, 86(22), 11334-11341. doi:10.1021/ac503067a