Personal Statement: 

Dr. Xing-sheng Shu received his B.S. degree from the School of Life Sciences, Peking University and his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Medicine, Shenzhen University. He has published more than 30 SCI papers with more than 1600 citations and an H-index of 21, including papers in high impact journals PNAS, Cancer Research, and Oncogene in recent 5 years as indepdendent corresponding author. He also holds two invention patents, and completed a series of national and provincial research projects. Graduate students supervised by Dr. Shu were awarded by “One Hundred Outstanding Master's Degree Theses of Shenzhen University” and “Outstanding Graduate of Shenzhen University”.

The research of Dr. Shu’s lab mainly focuses on the transcriptional and epigenetic dysregulation in cancer. We carried out a series of studies on the interactions between CREs (cis-regulatory elements) and transcriptional and epigenetic regulators in colorectal cancer (CRC), a highly prevalent malignant tumor. We have systematically investigated the mode of oncogene activation by super-enhancer (SE) and SE-associated transcription factors and epigenetic regulators in CRC; established the mechanistic link between non-coding genetic variants of susceptibility to CRC and epigenetic regulation of genes by SEs; elucidated the role of histone H3K27me3 modification and promoter DNA methylation in altering the key transcriptional features of CRC by inhibiting specific CRE activities; clarified the essential roles of these CREs and trans-regulatory factors in CRC development, stemness maintenance, invasion and metastasis, and immune dysregulation; and proposed novel therapeutic strategies targeting the regulatory machinery of SE. Our current studies continue to resolve the hierarchy of transcription regulatory network in CRC and uncover mechanisms underlying transcriptional and epigenetic control of cancer cell plasticity, drug resistance, and tumor microenvironment.

Research Interests:

Transcriptional dysregulation driven by super-enhancer in cancer

The mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer

Research Projects:

1. National Natural Science Foundation of China (82472657), “A core transcriptional regulatory circuitry activated by MYC through super-enhancer invasion in colorectal cancer”, 01/2025 to 12/2028

2. National Natural Science Foundation of China (82072661), “MYC-regulated distal super-enhancer promotes colorectal cancer metastasis and recurrence through activating LGR5”, 01/2020 to 12/2024

3. Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2025A1515010364), “Mechanism of distal super-enhancer-driven overexpression of histone methylation reader CBX2/4/8 promotes colorectal carcinogenesis through up-regulation of classical PRC1 activity”, 01/2025 to 12/2027

4. Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen (JCYJ20240813143313018), “Mechanism of oncogenic transcription factor cluster-regulated super-enhancers in promoting colorectal carcinogenesis by activating the transcription of the cell cycle protein CCND1”, 11/2024 to 11/2027

Selected Peer-reviewed Publications:（no more than 5）

1. Ying Y, Wang M, Chen Y, Li M, Ma C, Zhang J, Huang X, Jia M, Zeng J, Wang Y, Li L, Wang X, Tao Q, Shu XS*. Zinc finger protein 280C contributes to colorectal tumorigenesis by maintaining epigenetic repression at H3K27me3-marked loci. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2022; 119 (22): e2120633119.

2. Chen Y^#, Ying Y^#, Ma W^#, Ma H^#, Shi L, Gao X, Jia M, Li M, Song X, Kong W, Chen W, Zheng X, Muluh TA, Wang X, Wang M, Shu XS*. Targeting the epigenetic reader ENL inhibits super-enhancer-driven oncogenic transcription and synergizes with BET inhibition to suppress tumor progression. Cancer Research 2024; 84(8):1237-1251.

3. Ying Y^#, Wang Y^#, Huang X, Sun Y, Zhang J, Li M, Zeng J, Wang M, Xiao W, Zhong L, Xu B, Li L, Tao Q, Wang X, Shu XS*.Oncogenic HOXB8 is driven by MYC-regulated super-enhancer and potentiates colorectal cancer invasiveness via BACH1, Oncogene 2020; 39(5):1004-1017.

4. Zhang J^#, Ying Y^#, Li M^#, Wang M, Huang X, Jia M, Zeng J, Ma C, Zhang Y, Li C, Wang X, Shu XS*. Targeted inhibition of KDM6 histone demethylases eradicates tumor-initiating cells via enhancer reprogramming in colorectal cancer. Theranostics 2020; 10(22):10016-10030.

5. Chen Y^#, Ying Y^#, Wang M^#, Ma C, Jia M, Shi L, Wang S, Zheng X, Chen W, Shu XS*. A distal super-enhancer activates oncogenic ETS2 via recruiting MECOM in inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Cell Death & Disease 2023; 14(1): 8.

1. Ying Y, Wang M, Chen Y, Li M, Ma C, Zhang J, Huang X, Jia M, Zeng J, Wang Y, Li L, Wang X, Tao Q, Shu XS*. Zinc finger protein 280C contributes to colorectal tumorigenesis by maintaining epigenetic repression at H3K27me3-marked loci. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2022; 119 (22): e2120633119.

2. Chen Y^#, Ying Y^#, Ma W^#, Ma H^#, Shi L, Gao X, Jia M, Li M, Song X, Kong W, Chen W, Zheng X, Muluh TA, Wang X, Wang M, Shu XS*. Targeting the epigenetic reader ENL inhibits super-enhancer-driven oncogenic transcription and synergizes with BET inhibition to suppress tumor progression. Cancer Research 2024; 84(8):1237-1251.

3. Ying Y^#, Wang Y^#, Huang X, Sun Y, Zhang J, Li M, Zeng J, Wang M, Xiao W, Zhong L, Xu B, Li L, Tao Q, Wang X, Shu XS*.Oncogenic HOXB8 is driven by MYC-regulated super-enhancer and potentiates colorectal cancer invasiveness via BACH1, Oncogene 2020; 39(5):1004-1017.

4. Zhang J^#, Ying Y^#, Li M^#, Wang M, Huang X, Jia M, Zeng J, Ma C, Zhang Y, Li C, Wang X, Shu XS*. Targeted inhibition of KDM6 histone demethylases eradicates tumor-initiating cells via enhancer reprogramming in colorectal cancer. Theranostics 2020; 10(22):10016-10030.

5. Chen Y^#, Ying Y^#, Wang M^#, Ma C, Jia M, Shi L, Wang S, Zheng X, Chen W, Shu XS*. A distal super-enhancer activates oncogenic ETS2 via recruiting MECOM in inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Cell Death & Disease 2023; 14(1): 8.