Our lab is interested in understanding how epigenetic events, including histone modifications, DNA modifications, and nucleosome positioning, impact cell fate.
Research Information
Research Interests
Epigenetic mechanisms play a central role in regulating cell fate determination processes during normal development and pathogenesis. Deciphering these mechanisms will shed light on developing novel therapies for treating human developmental syndromes and cancer.
Our lab is interested in understanding how epigenetic events, including histone modifications, DNA modifications, and nucleosome positioning, impact cell fate. One major focus of our lab is the roles of lysine methyltransferases (KMTs) and lysine demethylases (KDMs) in regulating stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. We also focus on the crosstalk between different epigenetic pathways in modulating transcription, higher order chromatin architecture, and animal development. Moreover, we are interested in revealing the functions of enhancers and the machineries regulating them in controlling gene expression and cell fate transition.
We are dedicated to mentoring and training the next generation of exceptional scientists in biomedical research. The ultimate goal of our research is to translate the newfound knowledge to benefit patients and improve public health.
Publications
- Zeng C, Chen J, Cooke EW, Subuddhi A, Roodman ET, Chen FX, Cao K.
Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):4944. - Cao K, Ugarenko M, Ozark PA, Wang J, Marshall SA, Rendleman EJ, Liang K, Wang L, Zou L, Smith ER, Yue F, Shilatifard A.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 117:27365-27373 (2020) - Cao K, Collings CK, Morgan MA, Marshall SA, Rendleman EJ, Ozark PA, Smith ER, and Shilatifard A.
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Science Advances 4(1):eaap8747 (2018). - Cao K, Collings CK, Marshall SA, Morgan MA, Rendleman EJ, Wang L, Sze CC, Sun T, Bartom ET,and Shilatifard A.
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Genes Dev. 31(8):787-801 (2017). - Cao K and Shilatifard A.
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Cancer Cell. 26(2):158-9 (2014). - Cao K, Lailler N, Zhang Y, Kumar A, Uppal K, Liu Z, Lee EK, Wu H, Medrzycki M, Pan C, Ho PY, Cooper GP Jr, Dong X, Bock C, Bouhassira EE, and Fan Y.
"."
PLoS Genet. 9(4):e1003417 (2013). - Sze CC, Cao K, Collings CK, Marshall SA, Rendleman EJ, Ozark PA, Chen FX, Morgan MA, Wang L, and Shilatifard A.
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Genes Dev. 31(17):1732-1737 (2017). - Sze CC, Ozark PA, Cao K, Ugarenko M, Das S, Wang L, Marshall SA, Rendleman EJ, Ryan CA, Zha D, Douillet D, Chen FX, and Shilatifard A.
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Science Advances, 6(26), eaaz4764 (2020). - Douillet D, Sze CC, Ryan C, Piunti A, Shah AP, Ugarenko M, Marshall SA, Rendleman EJ, Zha D, Helmin KA, Zhao Z, Cao K, Morgan MA, Singer BD, Bartom ET, Smith ER, and Shilatifard A.
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Nature Genetics, 52(6), 615–625 (2020). - Rickels R, Herz HM, Sze CC, Cao K, Morgan MA, Collings CK, Gause M, Takahashi YH, Wang L, Rendleman EJ, Marshall SA, Krueger A, Bartom ET, Piunti A, Smith ER, Abshiru NA, Kelleher NL, Dorsett D, and Shilatifard A.
"."
Nat Genet. 49(11):1647-1653 (2017). - Chen FX, Xie P, Collings CK, Cao K, Aoi Y, Marshall SA, Rendleman EJ, Ugarenko M, Ozark PA, Zhang A, Shiekhattar R, Smith ER, Zhang MQ, and Shilatifard A.
"."
Science. 357(6357):1294-1298 (2017) - Hu D, Gao X, Cao K, Morgan MA, Mas G, Smith ER, Volk AG, Bartom ET, Crispino JD, Di Croce L, and Shilatifard A.
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Mol. Cell. 65(3):460-475 (2017).