Faculty
SELF-INTRODUCTION：
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor in School of Medicine, SUSTech. I received my Ph.D. degree in structural biology under the supervision of Dr. Ning Gao from Tsinghua University (THU) in 2017 for research in determining the first structure of mechanosensitive channel Piezo1 by cryo-EM. Then I continued my postdoctoral training (awarded SUSTech Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship) with Dr. Dinshaw J. Patel in the Department of Biology, SUSTech with my research emphasis on using state-of-the-art cryo-EM to study NSD family of proteins catalyzing H3K36 methylation mediated gene regulation at nucleosome level. My research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of chromatin regulation and some other diseases related protein complexes using cryo-EM in combination with other biochemical, molecular and cellular approaches.
EDUCATION:
2008.09-2012.07 B. Sc. in College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing, China. Major: Horticulture
2012.09-2017.06 Ph.D. in School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University (THU), Beijing, China. Major: Biophysics & Structural biology
WOKRING EXPERIENCE:
2017.07-2019.09 Postdoctoral research fellow (Principal Postdoctoral Fellowship), Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
2018.04-2018.07 Honorary Visiting Scientist, Cancer Research Division, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2019.10-2021.02 Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
2021.03-present Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
HONORS AND AWARDS:
2017 Principal Postdoctoral Fellowship，Southern University of Science and Technology
2016 The Award for distinguished graduate students of Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology 2016, Tsinghua University, China
2015 Poster Award, Tsinghua-Amgen "Medicine and Life Science" Forum in 2015
2015 National Scholarship, Ministry of Education of China
2011 National Scholarship, Ministry of Education of China
RESEARCH:
Wanqiu Li is interested in the 3D structures and functions of macromolecular complexes using cryo electron microscopy (cryo-EM), in combination with other biotechnologies.
MANUSCRIPT REVIEWER AND EDITOR：
N/A
PUBLICATIONS：
1. Li, W.*, Tian, W.*, Yuan, G.*, Deng, P.*, Sengupta, D., Cheng, Z., Cao, Y., Ren, J., Qin, Y., Zhou, Y., Jia, Y., Gozani, O.#, Patel, D. J.# & Wang, Z.# Molecular basis of nucleosomal H3K36 methylation by NSD methyltransferases. Nature 590, 498-503, doi:10.1038/s41586-020-03069-8 (2021).
2. Lin, F., Zhang, R., Shao, W., Lei, C., Ma, M., Zhang, Y., Wen, Z.# & Li, W.# Structural basis of nucleosomal H4K20 recognition and methylation by SUV420H1 methyltransferase. Cell Discov 9, 120, doi:10.1038/s41421-023-00620-5 (2023).
3. Li, W.*, Wang, L.*, Wierbowski, B. M.*, Lu, M., Dong, F., Liu, W., Li, S., Wang, P., Salic, A.# & Gong, X.# Structural insights into proteolytic activation of the human Dispatched1 transporter for Hedgehog morphogen release. Nat Commun 12, 6966, doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27257-w (2021).
4. Ge, J.*, Li, W.*, Zhao, Q.*, Li, N.*, Chen, M., Zhi, P., Li, R., Gao, N.#, Xiao, B.# & Yang, M.# Architecture of the mammalian mechanosensitive Piezo1 channel. Nature 527, 64-69, doi:10.1038/nature15247 (2015).
5. Wang, W.*, Li, W.*, Ge, X.*, Yan, K., Mandava, C. S., Sanyal, S.# & Gao, N.# Loss of a single methylation in 23S rRNA delays 50S assembly at multiple late stages and impairs translation initiation and elongation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117, 15609-15619, doi:10.1073/pnas.1914323117 (2020).
6. Li, W., Gao, N. & Yang, M. The Structural Basis for Sensing by the Piezo1 Protein. Curr Top Membr 79, 135-158, doi:10.1016/bs.ctm.2016.10.001 (2017).
7. Ngo, L. H., Bert, A. G., Dredge, B. K., Williams, T., Murphy, V., Li, W., Hamilton, W. B., Carey, K. T., Toubia, J., Pillman, K. A., Liu, D., Desogus, J., Chao, J. A., Deans, A. J., Goodall, G. J. & Wickramasinghe, V. O. Nuclear export of circular RNA. Nature, doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07060-5 (2024).
8. Li, N.*, Zhai, Y.*, Zhang, Y., Li, W., Yang, M., Lei, J., Tye, B. K.# & Gao, N.# Structure of the eukaryotic MCM complex at 3.8 A. Nature 524, 186-191, doi:10.1038/nature14685 (2015).