Zhucheng CHEN Ph.D.
Professor
1994-1998 B.S., NanKai University
1998-2001 M.S., Peking University
2001-2003 M.S., New York University
2003-2008 Ph.D., Cornell University
2008-2011 Postdoc, UT Southwestern Medical Center
2011-2017 Tenure-track associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
2017-2020 Tenured associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
2020- Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Research interest
DNA tightly wraps histones to form nucleosomes, which are the basic repeating unit of chromatin and the material basis of epigenetics. Nucleosome assembly and chromatin formation, however, hinder access to the genetic information. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, nucleosome packing and heterochromatin structure, are the key to decoding genetic information, and play important roles in gene transcription, cell fate determination and human diseases.
Our laboratory mainly studies the structure, mechanism and biological function of chromatin factors by biophysical methods, in combination with biochemical and other means. We elucidated the fundamental mechanism of chromatin remodeling. We determined the high-resolution structures of the SWI/SNF family chromatin remodeling megacomplexes, which revealed the mechanisms of complex assembly and nucleosome recognition, and provided the basis for the pathogenesis of related gene mutations. We also elucidated the regulation mechanisms of several chromatin enzymes, which provided a framework for them to respond to the nucleosomal signals in control of chromatin structure.
Selected publications
1. Yuan J#, Chen K#, Zhang W. Chen Z. Structure of human PBAF chromatin remodeling complex bound to a nucleosome Nature, 605(7908):166-171, 2022
2. Wang L#, Chen K#, Chen Z* Structural basis of ALC1/CHD1L autoinhibition and the mechanism of activation by the nucleosome Nature Comm. 12 (1):4058, 2021
3. He Z#, Chen K#, Ye Y#, Chen Z* Structure of the SWI/SNF complex bound to the nucleosome and insights into the functional modularity Cell Discovery. 7(1): 28, 2021
4. Ye Y#, Wu H#, Chen K, Clapier CR, Verma N, Zhang W, Deng H, Cairns BR*, Gao N*, Chen Z*. Structure of the RSC complex bound to the nucleosome. Science, 366(6467):838-843, 2019
5. Yan L#, Wu H#, Li X, Gao N*, Chen Z* Structures of the ISWI-nucleosome complex reveal a conserved mechanism of chromatin remodeling Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 26(4):258-266, 2019
6. Li M#, Xia X#, Tian Y#, Jia Q#, Liu X#, Ying L, Li M*, Li X* Chen Z*. Mechanism of DNA translocation underlying chromatin remodeling by Snf2 Nature, 567(7748): 409-413, 2019.
7. Liu X#, Li M#, Xia X#, Li X*, Chen Z*. Mechanism of chromatin remodelling revealed by the Snf2-nucleosome structure Nature 544 (7651):440-445, 2017
8. Yan L#, Wang L#, Tian Y, Xia X, Chen Z*. Structure and regulation of the chromatin remodeller ISWI. Nature 540(7633):466-469, 2016
9. Xu P#, Li C#, Chen Z, Jiang S, Fan S, Wang J, Dai J, Zhu P*, Chen Z* The NuA4 core complex acetylates nucleosomal histone H4 through a double recognition mechanism. Mol. Cell. 63 (6):965-75, 2016
10. Cao T, Sun L, Jiang Y, Huang S, Wang J, Chen Z*. Crystal structure of a nuclear actin ternary complex. PNAS.113(32): 8985-90, 2016
11. Xia X#, Liu X#, Li T, Fang, X, Chen Z*. Structure of chromatin remodeller Swi2/Snf2 in the resting state. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 23(8):722-9, 2016
Contact information
Tel: +86-10-62796096
Website: http://www.chenzclab.com/
E-mail: zhucheng_chen@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
