Distinguished Professor

Personal Statement: 

Dr. Sisi Li received her Ph.D. from Fudan University in 2013, and then joined the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York for postdoctoral training. In 2016, Dr. Li joined the Department of Biology of Southern University of Science and Technology as a research associate professor. In 2021, Dr. Li joined the Carlson International Cancer Center of Shenzhen University as an associate professor. Dr. Li was awarded Shenzhen peacock high-level talents.

In the past few decades, people have gradually gained new understanding of the mechanism of epigenetic diseases. Dr. Li Sisi has long been committed to the study of the molecular mechanism of epigenetic modification, with special focus on the RNA modification regulating gene expression. Dr. Sisi Li has published many high impact research papers, and served as a reviewer for journals such as Elife, Nature Communications and Molecular Plant.

Research Interests:

RNA modification

Patho-epigenetics

Epigenetic drugs

Research Projects:

1.NSFC (China) Project (31870755):  01/01/2019 to 12/31/2022  ￥590,000

2.Guangdong Special Project - Introduction of Innovative Science Research

Teams (NO2016ZT06S172):  0601/2017 to 05/31/2022 ￥2,500,000

3.Shenzhen Peacock Team (NOKYTDPT20181011104005):  0601/2017 to 05/31/2022 ￥2,500,000

Selected Peer-reviewed Publications:

1.Li S* and Du J*. Making a 6mA demethylase. Nat Chem Biol. 2022,18 :683-684.

2.Wang Q#, Xue Y#, Zhang L#, Zhong Z, Feng S, Wang C, Xiao L, Yang Z, Harris CJ, Wu Z, Zhai J, Yang M, Li S*, Jacobsen SE*, Du J*. Mechanism of siRNA production by a plant Dicer-RNA complex in dicing-competent conformation. Science. 2021, 374: 1152-1157.

3.Huang X#, Hu H#, Webster A, Zou F, Du J, Patel DJ, Toth KF, Aravin AA*, Li S*. Binding of guide piRNA triggers methylation of the unstructured N-terminal region of Aub leading to assembly of the piRNA amplification complex. Nat Commun., 2021, 12: 4061.

4.Hou Y#, Wu B#, Sun J#, Gao Y#, Nie H, Nie Z, Quan S, Wang Y*, Cao X*, Li S*. Arabidopsis CPSF30-L regulates nitrate signaling by controlling alternative polyadenylation through binding to m6A.Mol Plant, 2021, 14: 688-699.

5.Zou F#, Tu R#, Duan B#, Yang Z, Ping Z, Song X, Chen S, Price A, Li H, Scott A, Perera A, Li S*, Xie T*. Drosophila YBX1 homolog YPS promotes ovarian germ line stem cell development by preferentially recognizing 5-methylcytosine RNAs. PNAS. 2020, 117: 3603-3609.

6.Wu B#, Zhang D#, Nie H#, Shen S, Li Y, Li S*. Structure of Arabidopsis thaliana N6-methyl-AMP deaminase ADAL with bound GMP and IMP and implications for N6-methyl-AMP recognition. RNA Biol. 2019, 16: 1504-1512.