Yan Dai, Ph.D.

dai

PI: Yan Dai, Ph.D. 

Title: Assistant Professor of Medicine

Contact: E-mail: yandai@bu.edu; Phone: 617-638-5650

Research Interests: Molecular basis of cancer cell growth, invasion and metastasis; Epigenetic regulation of gene expression; Fetal globin gen expression control in sickle cell disease and thalassemia.

Research Summary: My research interest is to understand the mechanism of cancer cell growth and metastasis and explore how epigenetic regulation control gene expression including fetal globin gene silencing in sickle cell disease. We have two areas of research interest: 

1) Understand the mechanism of cancer cell growth, invasion and metastasis to identify new target in cancer treatment, particularly focus on prostate cancer and breast cancer. We employ two experimental systems including 2-D or 3-D cultured primary and cancer cell lines, as well as mice models integrated with a number of epigenetic, molecular, and cell biology approaches to pursue in our studies.

2) Understand the mechanism of controlling fetal hemoglobin gene expression to identify new targets in the sickle cell disease and thalassemia treatment. We used erythroid progenitor cells or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from sickle cell and thalassemia patients, normal adult or cord blood to determine the efficacy of small molecules compounds in fetal hemoglobin induction, and determine the mechanism that control locus control region (LCR) looping and transcription complex formation in LCR and fetal hemoglobin promoter.

Techniques in use in the lab: Tumor mouse models: Orthotopic mouse models of human prostate cancer and human breast cancer; Experimental metastasis mouse model; Human xenograft tumor mouse models.  3D culture of tumor cell growth and invasion. Epigenetics assays:  chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIPs) assay, histone acetylation and deacetylation assays, histone  methylation and demethylation assays, Chromosome conformation capture (3C) assay;  Basic molecular biology and cellular biology techniques: real time PCR, western analysis, flow cytometry analysis, Elisa. Immunostaining and Immunohistochemistry (IHC).

BU website: https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/profile/yan-dai/

Education: Peking University, Ph.D

 Selected Publications:

  1. Dai Y, Chen T, Ijaz H, Cho EH, Steinberg MH. SIRT1 activates the expression of fetal hemoglobin genes. Am J Hematol. 2017 Aug 04.View Related Profiles. PMID: 28776729.
  2. Dai Y, Sangerman J, Nouraie M, Faller AD, Oneal P, Rock A, Owoyemi O, Niu X, Nekhai S, Maharaj D, Cui S, Taylor R, Steinberg M, Perrine S. Effects of hydroxyurea on F-cells in sickle cell disease and potential impact of a second fetal globin inducer. Am J Hematol. 2017 Jan; 92(1):E10-E11.View Related Profiles. PMID: 27766663.
  3. Cho EH, Dai Y. SIRT1 controls cell proliferation by regulating contact inhibition. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016 Sep 16; 478(2):868-72. PMID: 27514448.
  4. Boosalis MS, Sangerman JI, White GL, Wolf RF, Shen L, Dai Y, White E, Makala LH, Li B, Pace BS, Nouraie M, Faller DV, Perrine SP. Novel Inducers of Fetal Globin Identified through High Throughput Screening (HTS) Are Active In Vivo in Anemic Baboons and Transgenic Mice. PLoS One. 2015; 10(12):e0144660.View Related Profiles. PMID: 26713848; PMCID: PMC4694699.
  5. Dai Y, Sangerman J, Luo HY, Fucharoen S, Chui DH, Faller DV, Perrine SP. Therapeutic fetal-globin inducers reduce transcriptional repression in hemoglobinopathy erythroid progenitors through distinct mechanisms. Blood Cells Mol Dis. 2016 Jan; 56(1):62-9.View Related Profiles. PMID: 26603726; PMCID: PMC4667977.
  6. Zhu L, Qi J, Chiao CY, Zhang Q, Porco JA, Faller DV, Dai Y. Identification of a novel polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol-derived SIRT1 inhibitor with cancer-specific anti-proliferative and invasion-suppressing activities. Int J Oncol. 2014 Nov; 45(5):2128-36.View Related Profiles. PMID: 25189993; PMCID: PMC4203335.
  7. Zhu L, Chiao CY, Enzer KG, Stankiewicz AJ, Faller DV, Dai Y. SIRT1 inactivation evokes antitumor activities in NSCLC through the tumor suppressor p27. Mol Cancer Res. 2015 Jan; 13(1):41-9.View Related Profiles. PMID: 25143434; PMCID: PMC4312526; DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-14-0239.
  8. Lovaas JD, Zhu L, Chiao CY, Byles V, Faller DV, Dai Y. SIRT1 enhances matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression and tumor cell invasion in prostate cancer cells. Prostate. 2013 Apr; 73(5):522-30.View Related Profiles. PMID: 23038275; DOI: 10.1002/pros.22592.
  9. Byles V, Zhu L, Lovaas JD, Chmilewski LK, Wang J, Faller DV, Dai Y. SIRT1 induces EMT by cooperating with EMT transcription factors and enhances prostate cancer cell migration and metastasis. Oncogene. 2012 Oct 25; 31(43):4619-29.View Related Profiles. PMID: 22249256; DOI: 10.1038/onc.2011.612
  10. Moore RL, Dai Y, Faller DV. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and steroid hormone receptor activity in cancer. J Endocrinol. 2012 Apr; 213(1):37-48.View Related Profiles. PMID: 22159506; PMCID: PMC3804056; DOI: 10.1530/JOE-11-0217
  11. Byles V, Chmilewski LK, Wang J, Zhu L, Forman LW, Faller DV, Dai Y. Aberrant cytoplasm localization and protein stability of SIRT1 is regulated by PI3K/IGF-1R signaling in human cancer cells. Int J Biol Sci. 2010; 6(6):599-612.View Related Profiles. PMID: 20941378; PMCID: PMC2952410.
  12. Dai Y, Ngo D, Jacob J, Forman LW, Faller DV. Prohibitin and the SWI/SNF ATPase subunit BRG1 are required for effective androgen antagonist-mediated transcriptional repression of androgen receptor-regulated genes. Carcinogenesis. 2008 Sep; 29(9):1725-33.View Related Profiles. PMID: 18487222; PMCID: PMC2722849.
  13. Dai Y, Faller DV. Transcription Regulation by Class III Histone Deacetylases (HDACs)-Sirtuins. Transl Oncogenomics. 2008; 3:53-65.View Related Profiles. PMID: 21566744; PMCID: PMC3022360.
  14. Dai Y, Ngo D, Forman LW, Qin DC, Jacob J, Faller DV. Sirtuin 1 is required for antagonist-induced transcriptional repression of androgen-responsive genes by the androgen receptor. Mol Endocrinol. 2007 Aug; 21(8):1807-21.View Related Profiles. PMID: 17505061.
  15. Dai Y, Wong B, Yen YM, Oettinger MA, Kwon J, Johnson RC. Determinants of HMGB proteins required to promote RAG1/2-recombination signal sequence complex assembly and catalysis during V(D)J recombination. Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Jun; 25(11):4413-25. PMID: 15899848; PMCID: PMC1140611.
  16. Dai Y, Kysela B, Hanakahi LA, Manolis K, Riballo E, Stumm M, Harville TO, West SC, Oettinger MA, Jeggo PA. Nonhomologous end joining and V(D)J recombination require an additional factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Mar 4; 100(5):2462-7. PMID: 12604777; PMCID: PMC151363.