Xiajun Li, PhDAssociate Professor

Genomic imprinting is absolutely essential for mammalian development. Dysregulation of genomic imprinting causes a variety of human diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. Dr. Li’s previous study has shown Zfp57 as a master regulator in genomic imprinting. His lab is interested in modeling major human diseases by utilizing Zfp57 mutant mice. Zfp57 is a maternal-zygotic effect gene and loss of Zfp57 causes maternal-zygotic embryonic lethality, the first one identified in mammals. Recently, his lab demonstrated that both maternal and zygotic Zfp57 modulate NOTCH signaling in cardiac development, with partially redundant functions. His current research centers on NOTCH signaling and genomic imprinting in cardiac and neural development as well as related heart and brain diseases including dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and Alzheimer’s disease.

Another major research interest of his lab is epigenetic regulation, in particular genomic imprinting, in ES and iPS cells. Indeed, Zfp57 is critical for the maintenance of genomic imprinting in these stem cells, whereas ntES and iPS cells are promising candidates for cell-based therapies for various degenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. Genomic imprinting is commonlydysregulated in reprogrammed ntES and iPS cells, and loss of genomic imprinting may cause cancer and other human diseases. Therefore,his lab is interested in identifying possible strategies for derivation of iPS cells that are suitable for future therapeutic applications.