2018.01 – now Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences/ Investigator
2015.01 – 2017.12 Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences/ Associate Investigator
2011.07 – 2014.12 Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences/ Research Assistant
2006.09 – 2011.07 University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China, Ph.D. in Biochemistry
2002.09 – 2006.07 Anhui University, Hefei, China, Bachelor
RNA-protein interaction during cell fate transition
Dr. Bao has discovered that one of the embryonic stem cell-enriched microRNA clusters, microRNA 302-367 cluster, enhances the reprogramming efficiency by promoting mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) through targeting TGFBR2. He also found that the p53-induced lncRNAs, lincRNA-p21, acts as a barrier to reprogramming by recruiting SETDB1 and DNMT1 to pluripotency gene promoters to block the activation of the pluripotency circuitry. In addition, he has recently developed a new methodology based on the incorporation of the nucleoside analog (RICK, capture of the newly transcribed RNA Interactome using ClicK chemistry), to systematically identify novel RNA binding proteins. This method can be applied to profile RBP in different cell fates, and capture nascent RNA binding proteome to understand the events coupled with transcription including RNA splicing and RNA methylation. He was awarded Outstanding Youth of Guangdong Provincial Natural and Science Foundation, the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Pearl River Science and Technology Nova Award of Guangzhou.
1. Bao X#*, Guo X#, Yin M#, Tariq M, Lai Y, Kanwal S, Zhou J, Li N, Lv Y, Pulido-Quetglas C, Wang X, Ji L, Khan MJ, Zhu X, Luo Z, Shao C, Lim DH, Liu X, LiN, Wang W, He M, Liu YL, Ward C, Wang T, Zhang G, Wang D, Yang J, Chen Y, Zhang C, Jauch R, Yang YG, Wang Y, Qin B, Anko ML, Hutchins AP, Sun H, Wang H, Fu XD, Zhang B*, Esteban MA*. Capturing the interactome of newly transcribed RNA. Nat Methods. 2018 Mar;15(3):213-220. (Co-corresponding author).
2. Bao X#*, Wu H#, Zhu X#, Guo X, Hutchins AP, Luo Z, Song H, Chen Y, Lai K, Yin M, Xu L, Zhou L, Chen J, Wang D, Qin B, Frampton J, Tse HF, Pei D, Wang H, Zhang B, Esteban MA*. The p53-induced lincRNA-p21 derails somatic cell reprogramming by sustaining H3K9me3 and CpG methylation at pluripotency gene promoters. Cell Res. 2015 Jan; 25(1): 80-92. (Co-corresponding author).
3. Liu L#, Xu Y#*, He M#, Zhang M, Cui F, Lu L, Yao M, Tian W, Benda C, Zhuang Q, Huang Z, Li W, Li X, Zhao P, Fan W, Luo Z, Li Y, Wu Y, Hutchins AP, Wang D, Tse HF, Schambach A, Frampton J, Qin B, Bao X, Yao H, Zhang B, Sun H, Pei D, Wang H, Wang J, Esteban MA*. Transcriptional pause release is a rate-limiting step for somatic cell reprogramming. Cell Stem Cell. 2014 Nov 6; 15(5): 574-588
4. Bao X, Zhu X, Liao B, Benda C, Zhuang Q, Pei D, Qin B*, Esteban MA*. MicroRNAs in somatic cell reprogramming. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2013 Apr; 25(2): 208-214
5. Liao B#, Bao X#, Liu L, Feng S, Zovoilis A, Liu W, Xue Y, Cai J, Guo X, Qin B, Zhang R, Wu J, Lai L, Teng M, Niu L, Zhang B*, Esteban MA*, Pei D. MicroRNA cluster 302-367 enhances somatic cell reprogramming by accelerating a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition. J Biol Chem. 2011 May 13; 286(19): 17359-64. (Co-first author).