Donglei ZHANG

Title: Professor

Department: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Email: zhang_donglei@hust.edu.cn

Clinical Focus:

Research Focus/Interests: In C. elegans embryos, cleavage furrow formation requires either the central spindle or astral microtubules. These two supramolecular structures appear to regulate furrow formation by distinct molecular mechanisms that converge at the GTPase RhoA. We will identify the mechanisms that lead to local activation of RhoA. Particularly, we are focus on an evolutionarily conserved protein complex, centralspindlin, that is directly involved in central spindle assembly and RhoA activation. In addition, we are interested in understanding how small RNAs function as a surveillance system that defends the genome against foreign nucleic acids, such as transposons and transgenes, in the C. elegans germline. Our recent study suggests PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) survey the whole transcriptome to detect "non-self" nucleic acids. We aim to investigate molecular mechanisms behind this self-protection phenomenon.