present position
associate professor (tenured) (副教授 ; 终身教职), department of pharmaceutical & biomedical sciences (药物与生物医学系), university of georgia (乔治亚大学), athens (雅典)（uga）
major research interests (主要研究兴趣)
protein myristoylation/lipidation regulate tumorigenic activity of tyrosine kinases; fatty acid metabolism in regulation of prostate cancer progression; epithelial-stromal interaction in prostate cancer; drug discovery. (蛋白质肉豆蔻酰化/脂质化调节酪氨酸激酶的致瘤活性；脂肪酸代谢调节前列腺癌进展；前列腺癌上皮-间质相互作用；药物发现)
educational background (教育背景)
institution and location (机构和地点) |
degree (if applicable) (学位) |
completion date mm/yyyy |
field of study (研究领域) |
wenzhou teachers’ college, p. r. china. (温州师范学院) |
b.a. |
1987 |
biology (生物学) |
nanjing university, p.r.china (南京大学) |
master (硕士) |
1992 |
environmental biology (环境生物学) |
international institute for infrastructural, hydraulic and environmental engineering, delft, the netherlands (荷兰代尔夫特国际基础设施、水利和环境工程研究所) |
master (硕士) |
1998 |
environmental science and technology (环境科学与技术) |
university of tennessee, knoxville (utk) (田纳西大学，诺克斯维尔) |
ph.d. (博士) |
2006 |
microbiology (微生物学) |
university of california, los angeles (加利福尼亚大学，洛杉矶) |
postdoc (博士后) |
2011 |
prostate cancer biology (前列腺癌生物学) |
research and/or professional experience (研究和/或专业经验)
2019- associate professor (with tenure), uga (副教授, 终身教职)
2013 – 2019 assistant professor, uga (佐治亚大学助理教授)
2011 – 2013 research assistant professor, hollings cancer center, medical university of south carolina
2006 – 2011 postdoctoral fellow, howard hughes medical institute/ department of microbiology, immunology, and
molecular genetics, university of california, los angeles (owen witte, mentor)
博士后, 霍华德休斯医学院 ; 微生物学、免疫学和分子遗传学, 洛杉矶加利福尼亚大学
(owen witte, 导师)
2001 – 2006 graduate student, ut, knoxville (jeffrey m becker, mentor)
诺克斯维尔大学研究生（jeffrey m becker，导师）
1999 – 2000 graduate student, rutgers, the state university of new jersey (dittmar hahn, mentor)
新泽西州立大学罗格斯分校研究生（dittmar hahn, 导师）
1998 – 1999 research assistant, swiss federal institute of technology (eth zurich), switzerland.
瑞士联邦理工学院（苏黎世理工学院）研究助理。
1992 – 1996 research assistant professor, nanjing institute of geography & limnology, chinese academy of sciences
中国科学院南京地理湖沼研究所研究助理教授
1993 visiting scholar in institute of limnology of the austrian academy of sciences, mondsee, austria, and the
max-planck institute for limnology (bodensee), germany
访问学者, 奥地利蒙得西奥地利科学院湖沼研究所、德国马克斯普朗克湖沼研究所
1987 - 1989 biology instructor, beiao primary school, dongtou county/wenzhou, china
温州市洞头县北澳中学生物教师
publications (出版物)
1. sumit rai, omar awad alsaidan, houjian cai*, lianchun wang*. heparan sulfate inhibits transforming growth factor β signaling and functions in cis and in trans to regulate prostate stem/progenitor cell activities. glycobiology, accepted. (co-corresponding author)
2. sungjin kim, xiangkun yang, amelia yin, junyi zha, zanna beharry, aiping bai, alicja bielawska, michael g. bartlett, hang yin, houjian cai. (2019) dietary palmitate cooperates with src kinase to promote prostate tumor progression. prostate, jun;79(8):896-908.
3. weizhong zhang, mengzhe wang, wei tang, ru wen, shiyi zhou, chaebin lee, hui wang, wen jiang, ian michael delahunty, zipeng zhen, hongmin chen, matthew chapman, zhanhong wu, elizabeth w howerth, houjian cai, zibo li, jin xie. (2018) nanoparticle-laden macrophages for tumor-tropic drug delivery. advanced materials. dec:30(50):e1805557. pmid: 30368972
4. qianjin li, omar a alsaidan, sumit rai, meng wu, huifeng shen, zanna beharry, martin e. fernandez-zapico, lianchun wang, houjian cai. (2018) stromal gli signaling regulates the activity and differentiation of prostate stem and progenitor cells, jbc, may 17. pmid: 29773652
5. qianjin li, omar awad alsaidn, yongjie ma sungjin kim, junchen liu, thomas albers, kebin liu, zanna beharry, shaying zhao, fen wang, iryna lebedyeva, houjian cai (2018) pharmacologically targeting the myristoylation of the scaffold protein frs2α inhibits fgf/fgfr-mediated oncogenic signaling and tumor progression, journal of biological chemistry, 293(17):6434-6448.
6. essilvo sulejmani and houjian cai (2018) targeting protein myristoylation for the treatment of prostate cancer, oncoscience, 5(1-2):3-5 (mini-review).
7. qianjin li, lishann ingram, zanna beharry, jonathan. a cooper, houjian cai. (2018) paracrine fibroblast growth factor initiates oncogenic synergy with epithelial fgfr/src transformation in prostate tumor progression, neoplasia, 20(3):233-243.
8. zhen han, hong wu, sunjoo kim, xiangkun yang, qianjin li, he huang, houjian cai, michael g. bartlett, aiping dong, hong zeng, peter j. brown, xiangjiao yang, cheryl h. arrowsmith, yingming zhao, y. george zheng, 2018, revealing the protein propionylation activity of the histone acetyltransferase males absent on the first (mof), jbc, january 10, 2018. pmid: 29321206
9. sungjin kim, omar awad alsaidan, octavia goodwin, qianjin li, zhen han, aiping bai, thomas albers, zanna beharry, y. george zheng, james s. norris, zdzislaw m. szulc, alicja bielawska, iryna lebedyeva, scott d. pegan, houjian cai. (2017) blocking myristoylation of src inhibits its kinase activity and suppresses prostate cancer progression. cancer research, 77(24):6950-62.
10. sungjin kim, xiangkun yang, qianjin li, meng wu, leah costyn, zanna beharry, alicja bielawska, michael g. bartlett, houjian cai (2017). myristoylation of src kinase mediates src-induced and high-fat diet-accelerated prostate tumor progression in mice, journal of biological chemistry, 292(45):18422-18433.
11. yahya alhamhoom, guisheng zhang, mingming gao, houjian cai, dexi liu (2017). in vivo growth and responses to treatment of renal cell carcinoma in different environments, am j cancer res. 2017 feb 1;7(2):301-311. pmc5336503
12. xiangkun yang, yongjie ma, ning li, houjian cai, and michael g. bartlett (2017). development of a method for the determination of acyl-coa compounds by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to probe the metabolism of fatty acids. analytical chemistry, 89 (1):813–821.
13. ningfei an; bo cen; houjian cai; jin h. song; andrew kraft; yubin kang (2016). pim1 kinase regulates c-kit gene translation. experimental hematology & oncology, 5:31.
14. houjian cai, melinda hauser, fred naider, and (2016). halo assay for toxic peptides and other compounds in microorganisms. bio-protocol, 6(22).
15. meng wu, qianjin li, ezequiel j. tolosa, lishann ingram, sungjin kim, demetri d. spyropoulos, zanna beharry, martin e. fernandez-zapico, houjian cai (2016). gli transcription factors mediate the oncogenic transformation of prostate basal cells induced by a kras-androgen receptor axis. journal of biological chemistry, 291(49): 25749-25760. pmc5207270
16. melinda hauser, houjian cai, fred naider, and (2016). uptake assay for radiolabeled peptides in yeast. bio-protocol, 6(22).
17. genevieve l. coe, priscilla s. redd, amy v. paschall, chunwan lu, lilly gu, houjian cai, thomas albers, iryna o. lebedyeva, kebin liu (2016). ceramide mediates fasl-induced caspase 8 activation in colon carcinoma cells to enhance fasl-induced cytotoxicity by tumor-specific cytotoxic t lymphocytes. sci rep., 6:30816.
18. mohammad alsaggar, qian yao, houjian cai, dexi liu (2015). differential growth and responsiveness to cancer therapy of tumor cells in different environments. clinical & experimental metastasis.
19. verweij fj, de heus c, kroeze s, cai h, kieff e, piersma sr, jimenez cr, middeldorp jm, pegtel dm. (2015). exosomal sorting of the viral oncoprotein lmp1 is restrained by traf2 association at signalling endosomes. j extracell vesicles, 4:26334. pmc4394166
20. , , , , ., , , , , , , , , . 2014 inhibition of sphingosine kinase 2 down-regulates the expression of c-myc and mcl-1 and induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma. blood. 124(12):1915-25.
21. houjian cai, sanaz memarzadeh, tanya stoyanova, andrew s kraft, owen witte 2012 collaboration of kras and ar signaling promotes ezh2 expression and proliferation of tumor propagating cells in prostate cancer. cancer research, 72(18):4672-4681 (corresponding author).
22. houjian cai, daniel a. smith, sanaz memarzadeh, clifford a. lowell, jonathan a. cooper, and owen n. witte, differential transformation capacity of src family kinases during the initiation of prostate cancer, proc natl acad sci usa, 2011. apr 19; 108(16):6579-84.
23. houjian cai, ivan babic , xiao wei , jiaoti huang, owen n. witte 2011 invasive prostate carcinoma driven by c-src and androgen receptor synergy, cancer research, 71(3): 862-872.
24. stoyanova t, goldstein as, cai h, drake jm, huang j, witte on, regulated proteolysis of trop2 drives epithelial hyperplasia and stem cell self-renewal via β-catenin signaling. genes and development, 2012, 15;26(20):2271-85.
25. mulholland dj, tran lm, li y, cai h, morim a, wang s, plaisier s, garraway ip, huang j, graeber tg, wu h, cell autonomous role of pten in regulating castration-resistant prostate cancer growth, cancer cell, 2011 jun 14; 19(6):792-804.
26. , , , , , , , , , , , and , oncogene-specific activation of tyrosine kinase networks during prostate cancer progression, proc natl acad sci usa, 2012. jan 31;109(5):1643-1648.
27. sanaz memarzadeh, houjian cai, deanna janzen, li xin, rita lukacs, mireille riedinger, yang zong, karel de gendt, guido verhoeven, jiaoti huang, owen n. witte, role of autonomous androgen receptor signaling in prostate cancer initiation is dichotomous and dependent on the oncogenic signal, proc natl acad sci usa, 2011 may 10;108(19):7962-7.
28. houjian cai, melinda hauser, fred naider , and jeffrey m. becker 2007 differential regulation and substrate preferences in two peptide transporters of saccharomyces cerevisiae, eukaryotic cell, 6(10), 1805-1813.
29. amy m. wiles, houjian cai, fred naider, and jeffrey m. becker 2006 nutrient regulation of oligopeptide transport in saccharomyces cerevisiae, microbiology, 152 (10), 3133-3145.
30. houjian cai , sarah kauffman, fred naider, and jeffrey m. becker 2006 genome-wide screen reveals a wide regulatory network for di/tri-peptide utilization in saccharomyces cerevisiae, genetics, mar.;172(3):1459-76.
31. oliver r. homann, houjian cai, jeffrey m. becker, and susan l. lindquist 2005 harnessing natural diversity to probe metabolic pathways. plos genetics dec.; 1(6):715-729.
32. houjian cai. boris zarda, geoffrey mattison, frank schonholzer, dittmar hahn 2002. fate of protozoa transiting the digestive tract of the earthwarm lumbricus terrestris l. pedobiologia 46, 161-175.
33. liu l., gu y., luo y., ma w., zhou z., cai h., 2000. on the growth and phosphorous metabolism of bacterium isolated from microcystis aeruginosu in taihu lake. j. lake sci. 12(4): 373-378.
34. gu y.，luo y.，ma w.，zhou z.，cai h., 2000. effects of temperature, organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphate on the growth of bacillus sp. isolated from microcystis aeruginosa. chinese journal of applied and environmental biology 6(1):86-89.
35. zhou z., luo y., ma w., cai h. 1998. identification and determination of growth curve of four bacterium isolated from taihu lake. j lake sci.10(4):60-62.
36. cai, h. 1998. the response of ciliated protozoans to eutrophication in meiliang bay of taihu lake. j lake sci.10(3):43-48.
37. mcnaught, d.c., w.chen, cai, h. j. 1997. grazing on a microcystis bloom by cladocerans and copepods in tai lake. verhal. internat. verein. limnol. 26: 550-552.
38. gao, x, chen y., cai, h. 1997. analyses of aquatic environment characteristics and tendency of eutrophication in meiliang bay and the main waterbody in taihu lake, pp 19-29. in cai qiming (eds) the ecological research on taihu lake. meteorologic press (beijing)
39. chen, w., cai, h. 1996. study on the aerobic decomposition of microcystis in taihu lake. j. lake sci. 8: 248-252.
40. cai, h., zhou, f., jin, q., chen, z., yu, a., jin h., huang, h. 1994. study of pp333 toxicity to several aquatic organisms and effects on plant ultramicrostructure. j. nanjing univ. 30: 274-280.
41. cai, h., zhou, f. 1994. bioconcentration and elimination of pp333 in daphnia magna. rural ecoenviron. 10: 33-35.
42. cai, h., chen y., cai q., gao x. 1994. relation between primary production of phytoplankton and relative factors at the mouth of meiliang bay in lake taihu. j. lake sci. 6: 340-3477.
43. zhou, f., cai, h., jin, q., cai, q., and wang x. 1994. study on absorption of pp333 in soil and distribution dynamics in model ecosystems. j. nanjing univ. 30: 455-462
other experience and professional memberships: (其他经验和专业会员资格)
1993 visiting scholar in institute of limnology of the austrian academy of sciences, mondsee, austria, and the max-planck institute for limnology (bodensee), germany
(访问学者, 奥地利蒙得西奥地利科学院湖沼研究所; 德国马克斯普朗克湖沼研究所)
2010- american association for cancer research (aacr) 美国癌症研究协会
2013- american association of colleges of pharmacy (aacp) 美国药物学院协会
2017 society for basic urologic research (sbur) 泌尿基础研究学会
2015- american society for biochemistry and molecular biology (asbmb) 美国生物化学和分子生物学学会
2018/06 ad hoc reviewer, monc study section, nih美国国立卫生研究院monc研究室特别评审员
honors: (荣誉)
1997 – 1999 national natural science foundation award (china) 中国国家自然科学基金奖
2006 science alliance award for outstanding scholarly achievement, utk
科学联盟杰出学术成就奖, 田纳西大学
2006 omicron delta kappa national leadership honor society 奥米克朗德尔塔卡帕国家领导荣誉协会
2008 – 2009 department of defense (dod) prostate cancer research program (pcrp) prostate cancer training award 国防部前列腺癌研究计划（pcrp）前列腺癌培训奖
2016 – 2017 uga-au seed grant program, “identification of myristoyl-coa analogs for targeting myristoylation of src kinase and its oncogenic potential” uga-au种子基金项目，“鉴定肉豆蔻酰coa类似物，以确定src激酶的肉豆蔻酰化及其致癌潜力”
2017 – 2018 oak ridge associated universities (orau) travel grants program橡树岭联合大学旅游资助计划
2018 – 2019 seed grant funding from the randy ellison cancer research endowment 兰迪·埃里森癌症研究基金会种子基金资助
2019 seed grant funding from the randy ellison cancer research endowment, the wright advanced education program for cancer endowment and the dean’s special projects fund. 兰迪·埃里森癌症研究基金会、莱特癌症高级教育项目基金会和院长特别项目基金会提供的种子基金资助。
research support (研究支持)
· ongoing research support
nih/nci u01 ca225784-01 cai and wang 04/01/2018 - 03/31/2023
title: heparan sulfate in prostate cancer (标题：硫酸乙酰肝素 前列腺癌)
the major goal of this project is to investigate if pten-loss leads to aberrant heparin sulfate expression creating a unique cellular environment that potentiates prostatic tumorigenesis. this study will reveal the aberrant hs expression as a novel biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis in prostate cancer. 该项目的主要目的是研究pten的丢失是否导致硫酸肝素的异常表达，从而创造一个独特的细胞环境，增强前列腺肿瘤的发生。本研究将揭示hs异常表达作为前列腺癌早期诊断和预后的一个新的生物标志物。
role (角色): co-pi (共同项目负责人)
nih/nci r01-ca172495 07/01/2013 - 06/30/2018 (non-cost extension)
title: targeting myristoylation of src family kinases for inhibition of prostate tumorigenesis (标题：src家族激酶靶向肉豆蔻酰化抑制前列腺癌的发生)
the major goal of this project is to investigate if loss of myristoylation will attenuate sfk-induced tumorigenesis, inhibit src kinase to interact with down-stream substrates such as androgen receptor, and suppress sfk-mediated paracrine signaling and over-expression of fgf10-induced tumorigenesis. 本项目的主要目的是研究肉豆蔻酰化丢失是否会减弱sfk诱导的肿瘤发生，抑制src激酶与雄激素受体等下游底物的相互作用，抑制sfk介导的旁分泌信号和fgf10诱导的肿瘤发生的过度表达
role (角色): pi (项目负责人)
dod w81xwh-15-1-0507 (idea development award) 国防部w81xwh-15-1-0507（创意发展奖） 09/15/2015 - 9/14/2018 (non-cost extension)
title: dietary saturated fatty acids promote src kinases-mediated prostate tumor progression(标题：膳食饱和脂肪酸促进src激酶介导的前列腺肿瘤进展)
the goal of this project is to investigate if a high fat diet could promote src kinase activity, and accelerate its mediated tumorigenesis in prostate cancer. the study focuses on the induction of a high fat diet to elevate src-mediated tumorigenic potential. 本项目的目的是研究高脂肪饮食是否能促进src激酶活性，并加速其介导的前列腺癌的发生。这项研究的重点是诱导高脂肪饮食以提高src介导的肿瘤发生潜能.
role (角色): pi (项目负责人)
· completed (已完成)
dod w81xwh-08-1-0329 (postdoctoral training grant) 2008-2010
国防部w81xwh-08-1-0329（博士后培训补助金）
title: the role of src family tyrosine kinases in prostate tumorigenesis(标题：src家族酪氨酸激酶在前列腺肿瘤发生中的作用)
the goal of this project is 1) to investigate the differential capacity of src family tyrosine kinases members in prostate cancer initiation and progression, and 2) to elucidate preferred partners or combination of genetic effects of src family tyrosine kinases with oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes in prostate tumorigenesis, and 3) to study the significance of chemical inhibitors on the inhibition of prostate tumorigenesis. 本项目的目标是：1）研究src家族酪氨酸激酶成员在前列腺癌发生和发展中的差异能力；2）阐明src家族酪氨酸激酶与癌基因或抑癌基因在前列腺癌发生中的遗传效应的首选伙伴或组合；3）研究化学抑制剂抑制前列腺肿瘤发生的意义。
role (角色): pi (项目负责人)
supervision of research
mentor for postdoctoral fellows
2013- 2019 dr. sungjin kim
2016- present dr. yongjie ma
2014- 2018 dr. qianjin li
2016- 2017 dr. huifeng sheng
2013-2015 dr. meng wu
2013-2014 dr. weihua wu
mentor for phd students
2013- 2017 sumit rai (bcmb) (co-mentor with dr. lianchun wang, graduated in may 2017)
2014- present omar awad alsaidn
2014- 2017 lishann ingram
2015- 2017 faris abdullah almutairi
2015- 2017 chiayere juliet eneh
2017- 2018 ru wen (department of chemistry, graduated in may 2018)
2018- chenming ye
2018- joseph whitley
2019- rohit katti
mentor for visiting scientists
summer in 2014 and 2015 dr. zanna beharry
2015- 2016 (6 months) dr. surong fang
2019- present dr. dayong yu and dr. liying shi
mentor for ms students
2015- 2017 xiaofei tan (graduated in aug. 2017)
2016- 2018 xiaohan zhang (graduated in may, 2018)
2016- present junyi zha
2018- present zixuan zhen
laboratory technicians:
2013-2014 leah jessup costyn
undergraduate students:
2014-2015 spring-fall semester shivam patel (microbiology)
2014 summer semester andrea bazan (coastal carolina university)
2014 summer semester danielle scott (coastal carolina university)
2015 summer semester seth cook (biology)
2015 summer semester rami zaabab (biology)
2015 spring-fall semester chandni patel (bcmb)
2015 spring semester silas money (microbiology)
2016 summer semester radhika patel (biology)
2016 spring semester linh n. do (pharmaceutical biomedical sciences)
2017 peter le (doubledawg program)
2017 essilvo sulejmani (doubledawg program)
ph.d. dissertation committees:
zhen han committee member
sukhneeraj pal kaur committee member
nhat dinh quach committee member
courtney marie daczkowski committee member
sudeepti kuppa committee member
ali alshamrani committee member
sudeepti kuppa (pbs, phd) committee member
yueze yang committee member
philip dean committee member
m.s. dissertation committees:
luan liu committee member
hua shi committee member
