LI, Bo-An, Ph.D.

1986, BSc., Med. The Fourth Military Medical University; 1996, Ph.D., Shanghai Cancer Institute. 1998-1999: Postdoctoral Fellow, Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Germany; 2000-2004: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Irvine; 2004-2006: Assistant Researcher, University of California Irvine; 2006-Present: Professor and  Minjiang scholar, Xiamen University School of Life Sciences.

Principal Investigator for Development and Tumor Biology Group (bali@xmu.edu.cn )

Research Area

Wnt signaling is crucial for normal development and tumorigenesis. Pygopus is a newly found PHD finger protein which is recruited to β-catenin via an adaptor protein, Lgs/BCL9, and excising evidence suggests that Pygopus is required for the maximum activation of β-catenin/Lef1 dependent promoter/ genes in cell culture. We have cloned the mouse Pygopus2 gene and generated the knockout mouse model. Phenotype study indicated that the main defect in Pygopus2 mutant mouse is abnormality of mammary gland development. Meanwhile, the Wnt signaling is apparently decreased in mammary gland cells. Pygopus2 was also found upregulated in some tumor tissues. Therefore, the transgenic study will be conducted to look into the function of Pygopus2 in tomoerigenesis.  We also found the high levels of expression of Pygopus2 in some Wnt signaling negative tissues which indicates the existence of Wnt-independent pathway for Pygopus.  Pygopus binding proteins will be isolated so that we  could elucidate the mechanisms of Pygopus in Wnt- dependent and independent pathways.

Selected Publications

• Gu B, P Sun, Y Yuan, RC Moraes, A Li,  B Li, X Dai.  Pygo2 expands mammary progenitor cells by facilitating histone H3 K4 methylation. Journal of Cell, 186:145-154, 2009.
• Nair M, I Nagamori, P Sun, DP Mishra, C Rhéaume, B Li, P Sassone-Corsi, X Dai. Nuclear regulator Pygo2 controls spermiogenesis and histone H3 acetylation. Developmental Biology,  320:446-455, 2008.
• Jonckheere N, E Mayes, HP Shih, B Li, O Lioubinski, X Dai, M Sander. Analysis of mPygo2 mutant mice suggests a requirement for mesenchymal Wnt signaling in pancreatic growth and differentiation. Developmental Biology, 318:224-235, 2008.
• Li B,  A Teng, V Bilanchone, JE Munguia, M Hu, S Jessen, S Piccolo, ML Waterman, X Dai. Developmental phenotypes and reduced Wnt signaling in mice deficient for pygopus 2. Genetics, 45:318-325, 2007.
• Ye Y, B Li. 1'S-1'-Acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA) isolated from Alpinia galanga inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by blocking Rev transport. Journal of General Virology, 87: 2047-2053, 2006.
• Nair M, A Teng, V Bilanchone, A Agrawal, B Li, X Dai. Ovol1 regulates the growth arrest of embryonic epidermal progenitor cells and represses c-myc transcription. Journal of Cell Biology, 173:253-264, 2006.
• Mackay DR, M Hu, B Li, C Rheaume, X Dai. The mouse Ovol2 gene is required for cranial neural tube development. Developmental Biologyl, 48:543-552, 2006.
• Li B, DR Mackay, J Ma, X Dai. Cloning and developmental expression of mouse pygopus 2, a putative Wnt signaling component. Genomics, 84:398-405, 2004 .
• Li, B., Nair, M., Mackay, DR., Bilanchone, V., Hu, M., Song, H., Dai, Q., Cohen, PE., Dai, X. Ovoll regulates meiotic pachytene progression during spermatogenesis by repressing Id2 expression. Development. 132:1463-73, 2005