I graduated from the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) program at Dartmouth in 2015, receiving my Ph.D. in Biochemistry from James Moseley's lab. During my PhD work, I used fission yeast as a model system to study cell size control and cellular response to nutrient starvation. From this work, I published 4 first-author papers. First, I identified a new mitotic inhibitor that forms stable megadalton structures at the plasma membrane (Deng and Moseley, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2013 and Deng et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2014). This work uncovered new aspects of the spatial control system that links cell growth with cell cycle progression. In my second project, I found that a master protein kinase Ssp1 (ortholog of the human tumor suppressor LKB1) promotes mitotic entry by activating the mitotic inducer Cdr2. This activation is coupled to cell size through another protein kinase called Pom1, which phosphorylates the C-terminal tail of Cdr2 to prevent activation by Ssp1 (Deng et al., Current Biology, 2014). In a third work, I discovered that Ssp1 also activates the cellular energy sensor AMPK. Interestingly, different signals cause Ssp1 to activate Cdr2 versus AMPK (Deng et al., Molecular & Cellular Biology, 2017). I appreciate that my work was recognized by the John H. Copenhaver, Jr. and William H. Thomas, MD 1952 Fellowship, E. Lucile Smith Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, and Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad.
After finishing my PhD study, I worked as a joint postdoc with David Pellman at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/HHMI and Johannes Walter at Harvard Medical School/HHMI in Boston, Massachusetts. My project was to investigate how DNA replication stress leads to chromothripsis, a phenomenon of genome instability in cancer. Using Xenopus egg extracts, I reconstituted DNA replication in vitro and investigated the impact of mitosis on replication. I found that entry of replication forks into mitosis causes the disassembly of the replication machinery, resulting in DNA damage and chromosomal rearrangements (Deng et al., Molecular Cell, 2019). From this work, I proposed a new model of genome instability and identified several novel genes as potential cancer targets.
In August 2020, during the pandemic of COVID-19, I started my independent research at Shenzhen Bay Laboratory in China. My group is broadly interested in cell cycle, genome instability, inter-organelle interactions, signal transduction, and drug development. We use a combination of cutting-edge techniques, such as in vitro biochemical reconstitution, genome engineering, high-throughput live-cell imaging and so forth, to study stress response and cell fate under normal and pathological conditions such as cancer. Research in my lab is currently supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program of China, provincial and municipal programs, and funds from industrial collaborators, in addition to the start-up funds. So far, we have more than 30 current members and alumni, including postdocs, PhD students, master students, research assistants and visiting scholars. More details can be found at www.deng-lab.net.
Outside of the lab, I love to travel with my wife Weiping and our lovely daughters Lisa (10-yr), Linda (8-yr) and Ivy (5-yr). Actually, Lisa was born at Dartmouth in 2013, three days after the publication of my first paper during PhD. Recalling my time at Dartmouth, I realize what a special place it is. When I needed some inspiration or refreshment, I just walked out of the Remsen Building to enjoy the hiking trails, Occom Pond, Storrs Pond, farmers' market, Hood Museum, and the beautiful four seasons in New England etc. More importantly, I always got support from my PhD advisor, lab mates, thesis committee, friends and the MCB community. I cannot imagine a better place to have my PhD training.
Contact me at denglin@szbl.ac.cn, or cell +86 18582931616.