Zhao Lab

Publications

News

People

Gallery

About Us

The Zhao Lab focuses on blood stem cells and diseases. Our goals are to define and understand the mechanism of blood stem cells, how these processes are hijacked by disease and how we develop therapeutic strategies. We use genetic models and clinical specimens to dissect the mechanisms of rare blood stem cells in respect to their cell-intrinsic and microenvironment regulations. We emphasize basic science that ridge to Clinical Medicine for the success of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and leukemia treatment.

The Zhao Lab is accepting applications for postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. candidates. Please email your info to ZhaoM_Lab@163.com

SHP-1 inhibition targets leukaemia stem cells to restore immunosurveillance and enhance chemosensitivity by metabolic reprogramming

Xi Xu, Yanhui Yu, Wenwen Zhang, Weiwei Ma

A Ferroptosis-Inducing and Leukemic Cell-Targeting Drug Nanocarrier Formed by Redox-Responsive Cysteine Polymer for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Therapy

Yanhui Yu, Yabin Meng, Xi Xu, Tong Tong

PD-1 signalling defines and protects leukaemic stem cells from T cell receptor-induced cell death in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Xi Xu, Wenwen Zhang, Li Xuan, Yanhui Yu

Loss of sphingosine kinase promotes the expansion of hematopoietic stem cells by improving their metabolic fitness

Changzheng Li, Binghuo Wu, Yishan Li, Yaxi Liu

Amino acid catabolism regulates hematopoietic stem cell proteostasis via a GCN2-eIF2a axis

Changzheng Li, Binghuo Wu, Yishan Li, Jie Chen

The RIG-I-NRF2 axis regulates the mesenchymal stromal niche for bone marrow transplantation

Qi Lou, Kaizheng Jiang, Quanhui Xu, Lisha Yuan

Hematopoietic Stem Cells: Keystone of Tissue Development and Regenerative Medicine (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology #1442)

A new book, titled Hematopoietic Stem Cells: Keystone of Tissue Development and Regenerative Medicine, has been recently published by Springer. The book is edited by Dr. Meng Zhao and Dr. Pengxu Qian.The book provides a comprehensive understanding of HSCs from embryonic development through adult maintenance to aging. It covers the latest research in epigenetics, metabolism, microenvironment and advanced technologies that are relevant to HSC biology and clinical applications. The book also offers a good reference for experimental and clinical hematologists, scientists in ste...

Comment: Forever young: Sphk2 in HSCs, when less is more

Victoria da Silva-Diz, Daniel HerranzIn this issue of Blood, Li et al1 use different mouse models to comprehensively dissect the role of sphingosine kinases (Sphks) in the regulation of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function, uncovering that specific loss of Sphk2 expands and functionally rejuvenates HSCs.HSCs sustain the lifelong production of most adult blood and immune cell lineages. At the apex of the hematopoietic system, HSCs are characterized by their capacity for long-term self-renewal and their ability to differentiate into mature cells.2 The decline in their ...

Comment: RIG-Ing out BMSCs for hematopoietic recovery after transplantation

Simón Méndez-FerrerIn this issue of Blood, Lou et al1 show that all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and different inflammatory signals increase the expression of retinoic acid (RA)-inducible gene I (RIG-I) in bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), reducing their reactive oxygen species (ROS) buffering capacity and their hematopoietic supportive function after transplantation.The impact of cancer treatment on the BM niche and its consequences for hematopoiesis is an emerging research field with therapeutic potential. In their article, Lou et al show that ATRA and...

Comment: Revisiting PD-1 to target leukaemic stem cells

Chong Yang & Toshio SudaThe programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) -programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis is emerging as an immune checkpoint that regulates anti-tumour immune responses against solid tumours and haematological malignancies[1] , but its function in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) leukaemogenesis remains unknown. Accumulative studies have demonstrated that tumours are composed of hierarchically heterogeneous populations of cells, with cancer stem cells representing a distinct subset that dwells at the apex of the hierarchy wit...