Li Cai Associate Professor Rutgers University Department of Biomedical Engineering 599 Taylor Road, Room 208 Piscataway. NJ 08855 (732) 445-4500, Ext. 6208 FAX - 3753 lcai@rci.rutgers.edu

Regulation of Gene Expression in Stem Cells

Like a double-edged sword, stem cells have the potential to develop into many different cell types for regenerative medicine, but they are also the source of at least some, perhaps all, cancers. The normal and cancerous behavior of stem cells may be determined by their unique pattern of gene expression. The Cai lab focuses on the genetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression of stem cells in both normal development and tumorigenesis. We are using integrative computational and experimental approaches to identify, verify and characterize the genetic regulatory elements, e.g., the conserved non-coding DNA sequences and their interacting protein factors that involved in the regulation of stem cell gene expression. A thorough understanding of these mechanisms will provide the knowledge of stem cell development into various normal cell types as a repair system for the body, as well as a basis for the therapeutic treatments of cancers.

Selected Publications

So JY, Lee HJ, Smolarek AK, Paul S, Wang CX, Maehr H, Uskokovic M, Zheng X, Conney AH, Cai L, Liu F, Suh N. (2011) A novel Gemini vitamin D analog represses the expression of a stem cell marker CD44 in breast cancer. Mol Pharmacol. Mar;79(3):360-7.

Liu J, Sandoval J, Doh ST, Cai L, López-Rodas G, Casaccia P. (2010) Epigenetic modifiers are necessary but not sufficient for reprogramming non-myelinating cells into myelin gene-expressing cells. PLoS One. 5(9):e13023.

Nair S, Barve A, Khor TO, Shen GX, Lin W, Chan JY, Cai L, Kong AN. (2010) Regulation of Nrf2- and AP-1-mediated gene expression by epigallocatechin-3-gallate and sulforaphane in prostate of Nrf2-knockout or C57BL/6J mice and PC-3 AP-1 human prostate cancer cells. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 31(9):1223-1240.

Doh ST, Hao H, Loh SC, Patel T, Tawil HY, Chen DK, Pashkova A, Shen A, Wang H, Cai L. (2010) Analysis of retinal cell development in chick embryo by immunohistochemistry and in ovo electroporation techniques. BMC Dev Biol. Jan 20;10:8.

Nair S, Doh ST, Chan JY, Kong AN, Cai L. Br J Cancer. (2008) Dec 2. Regulatory potential for concerted modulation of Nrf2- and Nfkb1-mediated gene expression in inflammation and carcinogenesis.

Blackshaw S, St Croix B, Polyak K, Kim JB, Cai L. (2007) Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE): experimental method and data analysis. Curr Protoc Hum Genet. Chapter 11:Unit 11.7.

Blackshaw S, Croix BS, Polyak K, Kim JB, Cai L. (2007) Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE): experimental method and data analysis. Curr Protoc Mol Biol. Chapter 25:Unit 25B.6.

Doh ST, Zhang Y, Temple MH, Cai L. (2007) Non-coding sequence retrieval system for comparative genomic analysis of gene regulatory elements. BMC Bioinformatics. 8:94.

Kim K, Zhang S, Jiang K, Cai L, Lee IB, Feldman LJ, Huang H. (2007) Measuring similarities between gene expression profiles through new data transformations. BMC Bioinformatics. 8:29.

Hars ES, Qi H, Ryazanov AG, Jin S, Cai L, Hu C, Liu LF. (2007) Autophagy regulates ageing in C. elegans. Autophagy. 3(2):93-5.

Lyu YL, Lin CP, Azarova AM, Cai L, Wang JC, Liu LF. (2006) Role of topoisomerase IIbeta in the expression of developmentally regulated genes. Mol Cell Biol. 26(21):7929-41.

Hu M. Yao J. Cai L. Bachman KE. van den Brule F. Velculescu V. Polyak K. (2005) Distinct epigenetic changes in the stromal cells of breast cancers. Nat Genet. Aug;37(8):899-905.

Lepourcelet M. Tou L. Cai L. Sawada J. Lazar AJ. Glickman JN. Williamson JA. Everett AD. Redston M. Fox EA. Nakatani Y. Shivdasani RA. (2005) Insights into developmental mechanisms and cancers in the mammalian intestine derived from serial analysis of gene expression and study of the hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF). Development. Jan;132(2):415-27.

Allinen M. Beroukhim R. Cai L. Brennan C. Lahti-Domenici J. Huang H. Porter D. Hu M. Chin L. Richardson A. Schnitt S. Sellers WR. Polyak K. (2004) Molecular characterization of the tumor microenvironment in breast cancer. Cancer Cell. Jul;6(1):17-32.

Cai L. Huang H. Blackshaw S. Liu JS. Cepko C. Wong WH. (2004) Clustering analysis of SAGE data using a Poisson approach. Genome Biol.5(7):R51.

Blackshaw S. Harpavat S. Trimarchi J. Cai L. Huang H. Kuo WP. Weber G. Lee K. Fraioli RE. Cho SH. Yung R. Asch E. Ohno-Machado L. Wong WH. Cepko CL. (2004) Genomic analysis of mouse retinal development. PLoS Biol. Sep;2(9):E247.

Cai L. Hayes NL. Takahashi T. Caviness VS Jr. Nowakowski RS. (2002) Size distribution of retrovirally marked lineages matches prediction from population measurements of cell cycle behavior. J Neurosci Res. Sep 15;69(6):731-44.

Goh KL. Cai L. Cepko CL. Gertler FB. (2002) Ena/VASP proteins regulate cortical neuronal positioning. Curr Biol. Apr 2;12(7):565-9.

Lu QR. Cai L. Rowitch D. Cepko CL. Stiles CD. (2001) Ectopic expression of Olig1 promotes oligodendrocyte formation and reduces neuronal survival in developing mouse cortex.
Nat Neurosci. Oct;4(10):973-4.

Lin JC. Cai L. Cepko CL. (2001) The external granule layer of the developing chick cerebellum generates granule cells and cells of the isthmus and rostral hindbrain. J Neurosci. Jan 1;21(1):159-68.