Education

B.S. 1992, Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry, Microbiological technology;
Ph.D. 2000, Michigan State University, Genetics;

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, Affymetrix, Inc, 2000-2002;
Staff Scientist I，II and Senior Scientist, Affymetrix, Inc AffyLabs, 2002-2008;
Principal Genomics Scientist, Helicos BioSciences Corporation, 2008-2010;
Director of Genomics, St. Laurent Institute, 2010-2014;
Director of Genomics Institute, Professor, Huaqiao University, 2014-2023
Distinguished Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, 2023

Research Area

Our research direction is to explore and discover complex molecular processes that occur in human cells using bioinformatic analysis of genome-wide information obtained by development of new molecular biological and analytical methods and approaches.

1. Understanding the complexity, mechanisms, and biological relevance of non-coding RNAs.
Dr. Philipp Kapranov Published the first groundbreaking work on the pervasive non-coding transcription in the human genome (the so-called “RNA dark matter”) in 2002, and carried out a series of follow-up seminal studies in the field. Currently, the group is focused on the discovery, annotation and functional characterization of non-coding RNAs and their regulatory networks, particular in the context of the human diseases and development.
2. Discovery and characterization of novel ribozymes.
Via development of a novel high-throughput method, we recently discovered a novel class of naturally occurring self-cleaving human ribozymes, hovlinc, located in a very long intergenic non-coding RNA (vlincRNA). We are currently focused on the discovery and characterization of novel ribozymes in humans and other organisms.
3. Understanding genomic characteristics and patterns of DNA damage.
This research group has successively developed the first single-nucleotide resolution methods SSiNGLe and SSiNGLe-AP to detect two common types of DNA damage, single-strand breaks and AP sites, and applied them to the human genome. We are currently focused on the development and application of high-throughput DNA damage detection methods to study the genomic characteristics and patterns of DNA damage related to aging, cancer and other human diseases.

Selected Publications (*Corresponding author, #co-first author)

1.Cai Y, Cao H^*, Wang F, Zhang Y, Kapranov P^*. (2022) Complex genomic patterns of abasic sites in mammalian DNA revealed by a high-resolution SSiNGLe-AP method. Nature Communications 13(1):5868 (期刊亮点文章).
2.Chen Y^#, Qi F^#*, Gao F, Cao H, Xu D, Salehi-Ashtiani K, Kapranov P^*. (2021) Hovlinc is a recently evolved class of ribozyme found in human lncRNA. Nature Chemical Biology  17(5):601-607 (期刊专题报道Nature Chemical Biology “News & Views”《Hunting for human ribozymes》, Science Translation Medicine《Mysteries of human RNA》, Nature Middle East 《Finding fresh RNA enzymes in the human genome》).
3.Xu D, Tang L, Kapranov P^*. (2022) Complexities of mammalian transcriptome revealed by targeted RNA enrichment techniques, Trends in Genetics  S0168-9525(22)00313-4.
4.Cao H, Salazar-García L, Gao F, Wahlestedt T, Wu CL, Han X, Cai Y, Xu D, Wang F, Tang L, Ricciardi N, Cai D, Wang H, Chin MPS, Timmons JA, Wahlestedt C, Kapranov P^*. (2019) Novel approach reveals genomic landscapes of single-strand DNA breaks with nucleotide resolution in human cells. Nature Communications  10(1):5799 (期刊亮点文章,2019年12月底仅发表一周时间就被期刊认证为Top 50 read articles of 2019).
5.Cao H, Wahlestedt C, Kapranov P^*. (2018) Strategies to Annotate and Characterize Long Noncoding RNAs: Advantages and Pitfalls. Trends in Genetics  34(9):704-721.
6.St Laurent G, Wahlestedt C, Kapranov P^*. (2015) The Landscape of long noncoding RNA classification. Trends in Genetics  31(5):239-251.
7.Kapranov P^{# *}，Ozsolak F^#, et al. (2010) New class of gene-termini- associated human RNAs suggests a novel RNA copying mechanism. Nature  466(7306):642-646 (co-first and co-corresponding author).
8.Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Fejes-Toth K^#,  et al.
Affymetrix: Kapranov P^#, et al. (2009) Post-transcriptional processing generates a diversity of 5'-modified long and short RNAs. Nature  457(7232):1028-1032 (昂飞实验室和冷泉港实验室联合发表ENCODE Transcriptome Project，co-first author).
9.Djebali S^#, Kapranov P^#, et al. (2008) Efficient targeted transcript discovery via array-based normalization of RACE libraries. Nature Methods  5(7):629-635 (co-first author).
10.Kapranov P, et al. (2007) RNA maps reveal new RNA classes and a possible function for pervasive transcription. Science  316(5830):1484-1488.
11.Kapranov P, et al. (2007) Genome-wide transcription and the implications for genomic organization. Nature Reviews Genetics  8(6):413-423 (期刊封面文章).
12.Cheng J^#, Kapranov P^#, et al. (2005) Transcriptional maps of 10 human chromosomes at 5-nucleotide resolution. Science  308(5725):1149-1154 (co-first author).
13.Kapranov P, et al. (2002) Large-scale transcriptional activity in chromosomes 21 and 22. Science  296(5569):916-919.