Shuai Zhao

E-mail：shuai@tsinghua.edu.cn

Research Area

Dr. Zhao has a long-standing research interest in tumor epigenetics and tumor immunology, with a focus on transposable elements such as endogenous retrovirus (ERV). The research directions include: 1) Discovery of novel regulators of ERV; 2) Function of ERV regulators in cancers; 3) Spatial biology of transposable elements in tumor tissues.

Publications

(*Co-first author; ^#Co-corresponding author)

1. Zhao S*, Lu J*, Pan B, Fan H, Byrum S, Xu C, Kim A, Guo Y, Kanchi K, Gong W, Sun T, Storey A, Burkholder N, Mackintosh S, Kuhlers P, Edmondson R, Strahl B, Diao Y, Tackett A, Raab J, Cai L, Song J^#, Wang G^# (2023) TNRC18 engages H3K9me3 to mediate silencing of endogenous retrotransposons. Nature 623: 633–642

2. Li Z*, Zhao S*, Nelakanti R*, Lin K*, Wu T*, Alderman III M, Guo C, Wang P, Zhang M, Min W, Jiang Z, Wang Y, Li H^#, Xiao A^# (2020) N6-methyladenine in DNA antagonizes SATB1 in early development. Nature 583: 625-630

3. Zheng Q*, Weekley B*, Vinson D*, Zhao S*, Bastle R*, Thompson R, Stransky S, Ramakrishnan A, Cunningham A, Dutta S, Chan J, Salvo GD, Chen M, Zhang N, Wu J, Fulton S, Kong L, Wang H, Zhang B, Vostal L, Upad A, Dierdorff L, Shen L, Molina H, Sidoli S, Muir T, Li H^#, David Y^#, Maze I^# (2025) Histone monoaminylation dynamics are regulated by a single enzyme and promote neural rhythmicity. Nature 637: 974-982

4. Zhao S, Allis CD, Wang G (2021) The language of chromatin modification in human cancers. Nat. Rev. Cancer 21: 413-430 (Cover Story)

5. Zhao S*, Chuh K*, Zhang B*, Xu N, Xue Y, Liu X, Farrelly F, Thompson R, Roeder R, Maze I^#, Muir T^#, Li H^# (2021) Histone H3Q5 serotonylation stabilizes H3K4me3 and potentiates its readout by TAF3. PNAS 118 (6) e2016742118

6. Zhao S*, Cheng L*, Gao Y*, Zhang B*, Zheng X, Wang L, Li P^#, Sun Q^#, and Li H^# (2019) Plant HP1 protein ADCP1 links multivalent H3K9 methylation readout to heterochromatin formation. Cell Research 29 (1): 54-66

7. Zhao S*, Zhang B*, Yang M, Zhu J, and Li H (2018) Systematic profiling of histone readers in Arabidopsis thaliana. Cell Reports 22: 1090-1102

8. Zhao S*, Yang M*, Zhou W, Zhang B, Cheng Z, Huang J. Zhang M, Wang Z, Wang R, Chen Z, Zhu J^#, and Li H^# (2017) Kinetic and high-throughput profiling of epigenetic interactions by 3D-carbene chip-based surface plasmon resonance imaging technology. PNAS 114: E7245-E7254

9. Zhao S, Yue Y, Li Y, Li H (2019) Identification and characterization of “readers” for novel histone modifications. Curr Opin Chem Biol 51: 57-65

10. Zhao S*, Zhang X*, and Li H (2018) Beyond histone acetylation – writing and erasing histone acylations. Curr Opin Struc Biol 53:169–177