Professor ZHOU, Qiang

Awards and Honors:

1987                China and United States Biochemistry Examination and Application (CUSBEA) Fellowship
1993-1996      The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship 
1996                US Army Breast Cancer Research Program Postdoctoral Fellowship
1997-1999      The Schubert Family Junior Faculty Award, University of California, Berkeley
2000                The Hellman Faculty Award
2000                The France-Berkeley Fund Award 
2001                American Cancer Society Research Award
2002                The Biological Sciences Award, University of California
2006                CFAR Leaders-in-AIDS Lectureship at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
2007-2011      Charter Member of the NIH AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology (AMCB) Study Section
2008                The 21st Century Global Center of Excellence Lectureship at University of Shizuoka, Japan
2009                University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee Award

Research Areas:

• Mechanisms and human co-factors that regulate HIV-1 gene expression and latency
• Transcriptional elongation of RNA polymerase II in health and diseases
• Phase-separation mechanisms that affect transcription and DNA damage response
• Epigenetic control of gene transcription

Selected publications:

1. Fong, Y. and Zhou, Q. (2001) Stimulatory effect of splicing factors on transcriptional elongation.  Nature, 414, 929-933. 
2. Yang, Z., Zhu, Q., Luo, K., and Zhou, Q. (2001) The 7SK small nuclear RNA inhibits the CDK9/cyclin T1 kinase to control transcription.  Nature, 414, 317-322. 
3. Yik, J. H. N., Chen, R., Nishimura, R., Jennings, J. L., Link, A. J., and Zhou, Q. (2003) Inhibition of P-TEFb (CDK9/cyclin T) kinase and RNA polymerase II transcription by the coordinated actions of HEXIM1 and 7SK snRNA. Mol. Cell, 12, 971-982. 
4. Chen, D., and Zhou, Q. (2004) Caspase-cleavage of BimEL triggers a positive feedback amplification of apoptotic signaling. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 101, 1235-1240. 
5. Yang, Z., Yik, J. H. N., Chen, R., Jang, M. K., Ozato, K., and Zhou, Q. (2005) Recruitment of P-TEFb for stimulation of transcriptional elongation by the bromodomain protein Brd4. Mol. Cell, 19, 535-545. 
6. He, N., Jahchan, N.S., Hong, E., Bayfield, M. A., Maraia, R. J., Luo, K., and Zhou, Q. (2008) A La-related protein modulates 7SK snRNP integrity to suppress P-TEFb-dependent transcriptional elongation and tumorigenesis. Mol. Cell 29, 588-599. 
7. Chen, C., Liu, M., Li, H., Xue, Y., Ramey, W.N., He, N., Ai, N., Luo, H., Zhu, Y., Zhou, N., and Zhou, Q. (2008) PP2B and PP1 cooperatively disrupt 7SK snRNP to release P-TEFb for transcription in response to Ca2+ signaling. Genes & Dev., 22, 1356-1368. 
8. He, N., Liu, M., Hsu, J., Xue, Y., Chou, S., Burlingame, A., Krogan, N.J., Alber, T., and Zhou, Q. (2010) HIV-1 Tat and host AFF4 recruit two transcription elongation factors into a bifunctional complex for coordinated activation of HIV-1 transcription. Mol. Cell, 38, 428-438.
9. He, N., Chan, C. K., Sobhian, B., Xue, Y., Liu, M., Benkirane, M., and Zhou, Q. (2011) Human Polymerase-Associated Factor complex (PAFc) connects the Super Elongation Complex (SEC) to RNA polymerase II on chromatin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 108, 14719-14720. 
10. Zhou, Q., Li, T., and Price, D.H. (2012) RNA Polymerase II elongation control.  Annu. Rev. Biochem., 81, 119-143.
11. Liu, M., Hsu, J., Chan, C., Li, Z., and Zhou, Q. (2012) The ubiquitin ligase Siah1 controls ELL2 stability and formation of Super Elongation Complexes to modulate gene transcription. Mol. Cell, 46, 325-334. 
12. Lu, H., Li, Z., Xue, Y., Schulze-Gahmen, U., Johnson, J., Krogan, N.J., Alber, T., and Zhou, Q. (2014) AFF1 is a ubiquitous P-TEFb partner to enable Tat extraction of P-TEFb from 7SK snRNP and formation of SECs for HIV transactivation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 111, E15-E24. 
13. Lu, H., Yu, D., Hansen, A.S., Ganguly, S., Liu, R., Heckert, A., Darzacq, X., and Zhou, Q. (2018) A phase separation mechanism for hyperphosphorylation of RNA polymerase II CTD. Nature, 558, 318-323.
14. Fu, H., Liu, R., Li, R., Zhu, F., Zhu, W., Jin, Y., Xue, Y., Luo, K., Gao, X., Lu, H., and Zhou, Q. (2022) Poly(ADP-ribosylation) of P-TEFb disrupts phase separation to inhibit global transcription after DNA damage. Nat. Cell Biol., 24, 513-525.