Zhijian 'James' Chen, Ph.D.
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science
Director, Inflammation Research Center
Professor, Department of Molecular Biology
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Education
1981-1985 Biology, Fujian Normal University, Fujian, China
1986-1991 Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
Professional Experience
1991-1992 Postdoctoral fellow, Salk Institute, San Diego, CA
1992-1994 Research Scientist, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Irvine, CA
1994-1997 Senior Scientist, ProScript, Inc., Cambridge, MA
1997-2002 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Molecular Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
2002-2005 Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
2005 - Professor of Molecular Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
2005 - Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
2010 - George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science
Honors and Awards
1998 Searle Scholar Award
2005 Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research
2007 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Science by The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas
2012 National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology
2014 William E. Paul Distinguished Innovator Award in Lupus and Autoimmunity
2014 Member, National Academy of Sciences, USA
2015 Merck Award, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences
2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
2019 Switzer Prize in Biological Sciences
2020 William B. Coley Award, Cancer Research Institute
2022 Member, National Academy of Medicine, USA
2023 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
2024 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize
2024 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award
Editorial Board
Molecular Cell，Immunity，PNAS，EMBO Journal，EMBO Reports，Cell Research
Drug Development
While a scientist at ProScript, Inc. (1994-1997), which is now part of Millennium/Takeda
Pharmaceuticals, I developed assays for identification and optimization of the proteasome inhibitor VELCADE® (bortezomib), a medicine approved by FDA for the treatment of multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma.
Igniting a flame: Role of cGAS in inflammation
Zhijian ‘James’ Chen
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
DNA entering the cytoplasm of mammalian cells is a danger signal that triggers a potent innate immune response, including the production of type-I interferons and inflammatory cytokines. We have identified the enzyme cGAS as the sensor of cytosolic DNA that triggers the innate immune response. cGAS catalyzes the conversion of GTP and ATP into cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP), which functions as a second messenger that activates the adaptor protein STING and the downstream pathway. The cGAS-STING pathway plays a critical role in immune defense, cellular senescence, autoimmune diseases and cancer. As such, this pathway must be tightly regulated. I will discuss our work on the regulation of the cGAS-STING pathway in animal cells and the role of this pathway in inflammatory diseases.
