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Zhiyuan Shen, PhD

Division of Radiation Cancer Biology

Dr. Shen received his PhD degree (1993) in Radiological Health Sciences from Colorado State University with a research focus on DNA damage and environmental carcinogenesis, and he cloned the mammalian Cytochrome p450-1B1 gene (Cyp1b1). During his postdoctoral fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he cloned the mammalian RAD52 gene and identified the interaction between RAD52 and RAD51. He was among the first group of investigators who identified two key components of the sumoylation pathway: SUMO1 (UBL1) and UBC9 (UBBE2I). Since becoming an independent investigator in 1997, Dr. Shen has been investigating how mammalian cells maintain their genome integrity through the accurate DNA repair, faithful DNA replication, precise mitotic chromosome segregation, and coordinated cell cycle progression, and identifying the molecular functions of an essential gene BCCIP in tumorigenesis and development. In 2006, Dr. Shen become the inaugural chief of the Division of Radiation Cancer Biology at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Shen is a co-leader of the Genomic Instability and Cancer Genetics research program at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. His research is currently supported by multiple awards, including two NCI R01s and an NCI P01 program project award. Dr. Shen has been directing a Radiation Biology courses for more than 15 years at the Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Shen is a member of multiple professional societies and serves in an ASTRO educational subcommittee. In addition to family and sciences, Dr. Shen enjoys playing pickup basketball and volleyball games with friends and traveling.

Awards

  • 2021: RBHS Chancellor’s Basic Sciences Researcher Award

Publications

  1. Choi WS, Liu B, Shen Z, Yang W. Structure of human BCCIP and implications for binding and modification of partner proteins. Protein Sci. 2021 Mar;30(3):693-699. doi: 10.1002/pro.4026. Epub 2021 Jan 29. PubMed PMID: 33452718; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7888581.
  2. Lu H, Ye C, Liu J, Rabson AB, Verzi M, De S, Shen Z. Requirement of Bccip for the Regeneration of Intestinal Progenitors. Am J Pathol. 2021 Jan;191(1):66-78. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.09.009. Epub 2020 Oct 9. PubMed PMID: 33039352; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7857062.
  3. Ye C, Liu B, Lu H, Liu J, Rabson AB, Jacinto E, Pestov DG, Shen Z. BCCIP is required for nucleolar recruitment of eIF6 and 12S pre-rRNA production during 60S ribosome biogenesis. Nucleic Acids Res. 2020 Dec 16;48(22):12817-12832. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1114. PubMed PMID: 33245766; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7736804.
  4. Feng X, Lu H, Yue J, Shettigar M, Liu J, Denzin LK, Shen Z. Deletion of Mouse Setd4 Promotes the Recovery of Hematopoietic Failure. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Jul 15;107(4):779-792. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.03.026. Epub 2020 Apr 4. PubMed PMID: 32259569; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7321877.
  5. Lu H, Ye C, Feng X, Liu J, Bhaumik M, Xia B, Liu C, Shen Z. Spontaneous Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and B-Cell Lymphoma in Mosaic and Heterozygous Brca2 and Cdkn1a Interacting Protein Knockout Mice. Am J Pathol. 2020 Jun;190(6):1175-1187. Doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.01.020. Epub 2020 Mar 20. PubMed PMID: 32201259; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7280756.
  6. Feng X, Lu H, Yue J, Schneider N, Liu J, Denzin LK, Chan CS, De S, Shen Z. Loss of Setd4 delays radiation-induced thymic lymphoma in mice. DNA Repair (Amst). 2020 Feb;86:102754. doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2019.102754. Epub 2019 Nov 25. PubMed PMID: 31794893; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6960333.
  7. Droz-Rosario R, Lu H, Liu J, Liu NA, Ganesan S, Xia B, Haffty BG, Shen Z. Roles of BCCIP deficiency in mammary tumorigenesis. Breast Cancer Res.2017 Oct 18;19(1):115. doi: 10.1186/s13058-017-0907-5. PubMed PMID: 29047390; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5648485.
  8. Huhn SC, Liu J, Ye C, Lu H, Jiang X, Feng X, Ganesan S, White E, Shen Z. Regulation of spindle integrity and mitotic fidelity by BCCIP. Oncogene.2017 Aug 17;36(33):4750-4766. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.92. Epub 2017 Apr 10. PubMed PMID: 28394342; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5561484.

A complete list of My Publications .