Assistant Professor, Developmental & Cell Biology
School of Biological Sciences

Organ size control, Hippo signaling, Cancer, Proteomics

devcell.bio.uci.edu/faculty/wenqi-wang/

The central question the Wang lab is interested in investigating is what are the signaling networks underlying tissue homeostasis and organ size control as well as the role of their dysregulation in tumorigenesis. The recognition in the past decade that the Hippo pathway is a crucial signaling pathway in organ size control, allowed us to take the first step to achieve this long-term goal.

We are majorly working on two areas in the lab:

1. Dissecting and targeting the Hippo pathway for cancer treatment.
Our previous proteomic analysis established the protein-protein interaction network for the human Hippo pathway, which helped to uncover a number of potential novel Hippo regulators. We are characterizing the cellular functions of these regulators, and examining their roles in organ size control and tumorigenesis. Since Hippo pathway is a crucial tumor suppressor pathway, we also hope to explore the therapeutic potentials by utilizing the Hippo pathway for cancer therapy.

2. Defining the protein-protein interaction landscape involved in organ size control and tissue homeostasis.
Coordination of key signaling pathways required for cell proliferation and survival may contribute to the elegant mechanisms underlying organ size control and tissue homeostasis. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of this process, we have defined the protein-protein interaction networks for several key signaling pathways/protein families related to growth control and cancer development, especially how they crosstalk with the Hippo pathway by utilizing the proteomic approach. We expect that these studies will also generate additional clues to help us unravel the molecular basis of the Hippo pathway in organ size control and cancer prevention.

Zheng X, Han H, Liu GP, Ma YX, Pan RL, Sang LJ, Li RH, Yang LJ, Marks JR, Wang W#, Lin A#. LncRNA wires up Hippo and Hedgehog signaling to reprogramme glucose metabolism. EMBO J. 2017 Sep 28. pii: e201797609. doi: 10.15252/embj.201797609. (# co-corresponding authors)

Li X, Han H, Zhou MT, Yang B, Ta AP, Li N, Chen J, Wang W. Proteomic Analysis of the Human Tankyrase Protein Interaction Network Reveals Its Role in Pexophagy. Cell Rep. 2017 Jul 18;20(3):737-749. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.06.077.

Han H, Yang B, Wang W. Angiomotin-like 2 interacts with and negatively regulates AKT. Oncogene. 2017 Apr 3. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.101. [Epub ahead of print]

Li X, Gao M, Choi JM, Kim BJ, Zhou MT, Chen Z, Jain AN, Jung SY, Yuan J, Wang W#, Wang Y#, Chen J#. CRISPR/Cas9-Coupled Affinity Purification/Mass Spectrometry Analysis Revealed a Novel Role of Neurofibromin in mTOR Signaling. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2017 Feb 7. pii: mcp.M116.064543. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M116.064543. [Epub ahead of print] (# co-corresponding authors)

Yi J, Lu L, Yanger K, Wang W, Sohn BH, Stanger BZ, Zhang M, Martin JF, Ajani JA, Chen J, Lee JS, Song S, Johnson RL. Large tumor suppressor homologs 1 and 2 regulate mouse liver progenitor cell proliferation and maturation through antagonism of the coactivators YAP and TAZ. Hepatology. 2016 Nov;64(5):1757-1772. doi: 10.1002/hep.28768.

Li X, Tran KM, Aziz KE, Sorokin AV, Chen J#, Wang W#. Defining the protein-protein interaction network of the human protein tyrosine phosphatase family. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2016 (# co-corresponding authors)

Li X*, Wang W*, Xi Y, Gao M, Tran M, Aziz KE, Qin J, Li W, Chen J. FOXR2 Interacts with MYC to Promote Its Transcriptional Activities and Tumorigenesis. Cell Rep. 2016 (*co-first authors)

Liu X, Xiao ZD, Han L, Zhang J, Lee SW, Wang W, Lee H, Zhuang L, Chen J, Lin HK, Wang J, Liang H, Gan B. LncRNA NBR2 engages a metabolic checkpoint by regulating AMPK under energy stress. Nat Cell Biol. 2016

Chen Z, Tran M, Tang M, Wang W, Gong Z, Chen J. Proteomic Analysis Reveals a Novel Mutator S (MutS) Partner Involved in Mismatch Repair Pathway. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2016

Jun S, Jung YS, Suh HN, Wang W, Kim MJ, Oh YS, Lien EM, Shen X, Matsumoto Y, McCrea PD, Li L, Chen J, Park JI. LIG4 mediates Wnt signalling-induced radioresistance. Nat Commun. 2016

Wang X, Jung YS, Jun S, Lee S, Wang W, Schneider A, Sun Oh Y, Lin SH, Park BJ, Chen J, Keyomarsi K, Park JI. PAF-Wnt signaling-induced cell plasticity is required for maintenance of breast cancer cell stemness. Nat Commun. 2016

Feng L, Li N, Li Y, Wang J, Gao M, Wang W, Chen J. Cell cycle-dependent inhibition of 53BP1 signaling by BRCA1. Cell Discov. 2015

Wang W#, Li N, Li X, Tran MK, Han X, Chen J#. Tankyrase Inhibitors Target YAP by Stabilizing Angiomotin Family Proteins. Cell Rep. 2015 (# co-corresponding authors)

Wang W, Xiao ZD, Li X, Aziz KE, Gan B, Johnson RL, Chen J. AMPK modulates Hippo pathway activity to regulate energy homeostasis. Nat Cell Biol. 2015

Wang W*, Li X*, Lee M, Jun S, Aziz KE, Feng L, Tran MK, Li N, McCrea PD, Park JI, Chen J. FOXKs promote Wnt/ß-catenin signaling by translocating DVL into the nucleus. Dev Cell. 2015 (*co-first authors)

Li X*, Wang W*, Wang J, Malovannaya A, Xi Y, Li W, Guerra R, Hawke DH, Qin J, Chen J. Proteomic analyses reveal distinct chromatin-associated and soluble transcription factor complexes. Mol Syst Biol. 2015 (*co-first authors)

Li N, Zhang Y, Han X, Liang K, Wang J, Feng L, Wang W, Songyang Z, Lin C, Yang L, Yu Y, Chen J. Poly-ADP ribosylation of PTEN by tankyrases promotes PTEN degradation and tumor growth. Genes Dev. 2015

Li X, Wang W, Chen J. From pathways to networks: connecting dots by establishing protein-protein interaction networks in signaling pathways using affinity purification and mass spectrometry. Proteomics. 2015

Wang W, Li X, Chen J. Energy crisis and the Hippo pathway. Cell Cycle. 2015

American Association for Cancer Research

Postdoctoral Fellow
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 2009—2014

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6388

Last updated
10/31/2017