Qinghua TAO Ph.D.
Professor
1988 – 1992 Major in Genetics and Bio-engineering in the Department of Bio-engineering at Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
1995 – 2000 Ph.D. candidate in the Developmental Biology and Cell Biology Program at Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
2000 – 2008 Postdoctoral research fellow, associate, Children’s Hospital Medical center,
Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
2008 – present Professor, School of Life Sciences (replacing the Department of Biological
Sciences and Biotechnology), Tsinghua University
Research interest
Using a combination of genomics, proteomics, molecular biology, genetics, and other technologies, we investigate the molecular mechanisms of cell fate determination and differentiation during early embryonic development in vertebrates. This research aims to shed light on the underlying causes of congenital diseases and developmental disorders in humans. Specific research directions include:
1. Transgenerational regulation mechanisms of embryonic development:
(1) How maternal factors regulate the determination of the embryonic dorsoventral axis (Science 2018 on the topic of maternal determinant factor "Huluwa").
(2) Study of the mechanisms by which bHLH family maternal transcription factors regulate embryonic layer determination and differentiation.
(3) Isolation and identification of novel parent-origin (maternal and paternal) factors.
2. Metabolic regulation and self-organization mechanisms during fertilization and early embryonic development.
3. The mechanisms by which growth factors such as Wnt, TGF-β, and FGF induce the directed differentiation of embryonic pluripotent cells.
Selected publications
1. Zhu XC, Wang P, Wei JL, Li YY, Zhai JY, Zheng TR, Tao QH* (2021) Lysosomal degradation of the maternal dorsal determinant Hwa to safeguard dorsal body axis formation. EMBO Rep. 22(12): e53185.
2. Zhang FF, Zhuc XC, Wang P, He Q, Huang HM, Zheng TR, Li YY, Jia H, Xu LP, Zhao HX, Colozza G, Tao QH*, De Robertis EM* and Ding Y* (2021) The Cytokine FAM3B/PANDER is an FGFR Ligand that Promotes Posterior Development in Xenopus. PNAS, 2021 May 18, 118 (20) e2100342118.
3. Yan L, Chen J, Zhu XC, Sun JW, Wu XT, Shen WM, Zhang WY, Tao QH*, Meng AM* (2018) Maternal Huluwa Dictates the Embryonic Body Axis through b-catenin in Vertebrates. Science 362(6417). pii: eaat1045. .
4. Lin H, Zhu XC, Chen G, Song L, Gao L, Khand AA, Chen Y, Lin GF*, Tao QH* (2017) KDM3A-mediated dimethylation of histone H3 lysine 9 facilitates the chromatin binding of Neurog2 during neurogenesis. Development 144(20): 3674-3685.
5. Zhu XC, Xing R, Tan RB, Dai RY, Tao QH (2017) The RNF146 E3 ubiquitin ligase is required for the control of Wnt signaling and body pattern formation in Xenopus. Mech. Dev. 147: 28-36. doi: 10.1016/j.mod. 2017.08.001.
6. Gao L, Zhu XC, Chen G, Ma X, Zhang Y, Khand A, Shi H, Gu F, Lin H, Chen Y, Zhang H, He L, Tao QH* (2016) A novel role for Ascl1 in the regulation of mesendoderm formation via HDAC-dependent antagonism of VegT function. Development 143(3):492-503.
7. Lin H, Min Z, Tao QH* (2016) The MLL/Setd1b methyltransferase is required for the Spemann’s organizer gene activation in Xenopus. Mech. Dev. 142:1-9.
8. Zhang Y, Ding Y, Chen YG*, Tao QH* (2014) NEDD4L regulates convergent extension movements in Xenopus embryos via Dishevelled-mediated non-canonical Wnt signaling. Dev. Biol. 392(2014): 15-25.
9. Ding Y, Zhang Y, Xu C, Tao QH* and Chen YG* (2013) HECT Domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4L negatively regulates Wnt signaling by targeting Dishevelled for proteasomal degradation. J. Biol. Chem. 288, 8289-98.
10. Tao QH, Yokota C, Puck H, Kofron M, Birsoy B, Dong Y, Asashima M, Wylie C, Lin X and Heasman J. (2005a). Maternal Wnt11 activates the canonical Wnt signaling pathway required for axis formation in Xenopus embryos. Cell 120:857-871.
Contact information
Tel：86-10-62788745
Email: qhtaolab@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
