Sha Sun

Picture of Sha Sun
Associate Professor, Developmental & Cell Biology
School of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Phone: (949) 824-3673
Email: shasun@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
4232 McGaugh Hall
Mail Code: 2300
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Long noncoding RNA in epigenetic programming
Research Abstract
The general interest of the Sun laboratory is to understand how a living cell controls its genetic and epigenetic composition. The main focus of our research involves the functional roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in epigenetic programming. Increasing evidence from large-scale transcriptome sequencing projects suggests a high abundance of lncRNAs present in human genome and potentially significant roles of lncRNAs in various aspects of biological processes. The research projects in our lab will address the following three questions: 1) What are molecular features required for lncRNA function? 2) What are the mechanisms for lncRNA regulation? 3) How have lncRNA functions evolved?
Publications
S. Sun, B. C. Del Rosario, A. Szanto, Y. Ogawa, Y. Jeon, and J. T. Lee. Jpx RNA activates Xist by evicting CTCF. Cell 153: 1537-1551 (2013)

D. Tian, S. Sun, and J. T. Lee. The long noncoding RNA, Jpx, is a molecular switch for X chromosome inactivation. Cell 143: 390-413 (2010)

S. Sun*, Y. Fukue*, L. Nolen, R. I. Sadreyev, and J. T. Lee. Characterization of Xpr (Xpct) reveals instability but no effects on X-chromosome pairing or Xist expression. Transcription 1: 46-56 (2010) (* Equal contribution.)

T. W. Cline, M. Dorsett*, S. Sun*, M. M. Harrison, J. Dines, L. Sefton, and L. Megna. Evolution of the Drosophila feminizing switch gene Sex-lethal. Genetics 186: 1321-1336 (2010) (* Equal contribution.)

S. Sun, and T.W. Cline. Effects of Wolbachia infection and ovarian tumor mutations on Sex-lethal germline functioning in Drosophila. Genetics 181: 1291-1301 (2009)

S. Sun, C.-T. Ting, and C.-I Wu. The normal function of a speciation gene, Odysseus, and its hybrid male sterility effect. Science 305: 81-83 (2004)

C.-T. Ting, S. C. Tsaur, S. Sun, W. Browne, N. H. Patel, and C.-I Wu. Gene duplication and speciation in Drosophila - Evidence from the Odysseus locus. PNAS 101: 12232-12235 (2004)
Graduate Programs
Cellular and Molecular Biosciences
Developmental Biology and Genetics
Last updated
08/05/2022