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Many congratulations to Dr. Jun Qi for publishing a Nature article in Sep, 2010! Dr Qi obtained his bachelor degree in Fudan University in 1993 and PhD from University of Michigan in 2006. Right now he is a Research Scientist in Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. |
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The title of his paper is "Selective inhibition of BET bromodomains" (Nature, 2010 Sep 24. Epub ahead of print). Here is the short description of his work:
In recent years, it has become clear that manipulation of gene regulation can be a high-impact approach to the cancer therapies. The studies conducted in our laboratory, Dr James Bradner's laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, are focusing on targeting epigenetic proteins, including "writer", "reader" and "eraser". In the recent study we reported in Nature, we have developed the first small molecule that can effectively inhibit the bromodomain, the epigenetic "reader". The binding mode of bromodomain and this small molecule JQ1 has been established by X-ray crystal structure. The selective inhibition of this compound, JQ1, was evaluated for a rare but devastating cancer of children and young adults known as NUT midline carcinoma (NMC). This disease is caused by a chromosomal "translocation," in which two genes from different chromosomes become connected and give rise to an abnormal, fused protein known as BRD4-NUT. JQ1 has selectively arrested the growth and spreading of tumors. The inhibition of cancer growth was then further confirmed by animal studies, which all the mice that received JQ1 lived; all that did not, died. Encouraged by these remarkable achievements, we are currently further optimizing the molecule to maximize its effectiveness as a BRD4-NUT stopper to develop the first effective therapy against NMC.
If anyone has interested in his research, you can email him directly at Jun_Qi@DFCI.HARVARD.EDU.
Cheers
HMS-CSSA
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