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Chengming Zhu, Ph.D.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, Division of Basic Science Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Office Address

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
7455 Fannin St
Unit Number: Unit #902
Houston, TX 77054
Room Number: SCR4.3019

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1997 Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, PHD, Microbiology and Immunology
1989 University of Houston, Houston, TX, MS, Biology
1984 Fudan University, Shanghai, China, BS, Biochemistry

Postgraduate Training

9/1997-9/2003 Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Experience/Service

Academic Appointments

Regular Member, Graduate Faculty, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, 12/2003-present
Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 11/2003-8/2010

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Van Nguyen T, Puebla-Osorio N, Pang H, Dujka ME, Zhu C. DNA damage-induced cellular senescence is sufficient to suppress tumorigenesis: a mouse model. J Exp Med 204(6):1453-61, 2007. PMCID: PMC2118600.
2. Yan M, Zhu C, Liu N, Jiang Y, Scofield VL, Riggs PK, Qiang W, Lynn WS, Wong PK. ATM controls c-Myc and DNA synthesis during postnatal thymocyte development through regulation of redox state. Free Radic Biol Med 41(4):640-8, 2006. PMID: 16863997.
3. Puebla-Osorio N, Lacey DB, Alt FW, Zhu C. Early embryonic lethality due to targeted inactivation of DNA ligase III. Mol Cell Biol 26(10):3935-41, 2006. PMCID: PMC1489003.
4. Ahkter S, Richie C, Zhang N, Behringer R, Zhu C, Legerski R. Snm1-deficient mice exhibit accelerated tumorigenesis and susceptibility to infection. Mol Cell Biol 25(22):10071-10078, 2005. PMCID: PMC1280277.
5. Dudley DD, Sekiguchi J, Zhu C, Sadofsky MJ, Whitlow S, DeVido J, Monroe RJ, Bassing CH, Alt FW. Impaired V(D)J recombination and lymphocyte development in core RAG1-expressing mice. J Exp Med 19(9):1439-1450, 2003. PMCID: PMC2194253.
6. Rooney S, Sekiguchi J, Zhu C, Cheng HL, Manis J, Whitlow S, DeVido J, Foy D, Chaudhauri J, Lombard D, Alt FW. Leaky Scid phenotype associated with defective V(D)J coding end processing in Artemis-deficient mice. Mol Cell 10(6):1379-1390, 2002. PMID: 12504013.
7. Zhu C, Mills K, Ferguson DO, Lee C, Manis PJ, Fleming J, Gao Y, Morton CC, Alt FW. Unrepaired DNA breaks in p53-deficient cells lead to oncogenic gene amplification subsequent to translocations. Cell 109(7):811-821, 2002. PMID: 12110179.
8. Frank KM, Sharpless NE, Gao Y, Sekiguchi JM, Ferguson DO, Zhu C, Manis JP, Horner J, DePinho RA, Alt FW. DNA ligase IV deficiency in mice leads to defective neurogenesis and embryonic lethality via the p53 pathway. Mol Cell 5(6):993-1002, 2000. PMID: 10911993.
9. Wong K, Chang S, Weiler SR, Ganesan S, Chaudhuri J, Zhu C, Artandi SE, Rudolph KL, Gottlieb GJ, Chin L, Alt FW, DePinho RA. Telomere dysfunction impairs DNA repair and enhances sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Nat Genet 26(1):85-88, 2000. PMID: 10973255.
10. Sekiguchi JM, Gao Y, Gu Y, Frank K, Sun Y, Chaudhuri J, Zhu C, Cheng HL, Manis J, Ferguson D, Davidson L, Greenberg ME, Alt FW. Nonhomologous end-joining proteins are required for V(D)J recombination, normal growth, and neurogenesis. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 64:169-181, 1999. PMID: 11232282.
11. Gao Y, Sun Y, Frank KM, Dikkes P, Fujiwara Y, Seidl KJ, Sekiguchi JM, Rathbun GA, Swat W, Wang J, Bronson RT, Malynn BA, Bryans M, Zhu C, Chaudhuri J, Davidson L, Ferrini R, Stamato T, Orkin SH, Greenberg ME, Alt FW. A critical role for DNA end-joining proteins in both lymphogenesis and neurogenesis. Cell 95(7):891-902, 1998. PMID: 9875844.
12. Gao Y, Chaudhuri J, Zhu C, Davidson L, Weaver DT, Alt FW. A targeted DNA-PKcs-null mutation reveals DNA-PK-independent functions for KU in V(D)J recombination. Immunity 9(3):367-376, 1998. PMID: 9768756.
13. Gu Y, Seidl KJ, Rathbun GA, Zhu C, Manis JP, van der Storp N, Davidson L, Cheng HL, Sekiguchi JM, Frank K, Stanhope-Baker P, Schlissel MS, Roth DB, Alt FW. Growth retardation and leaky SCID phenotype of Ku70-deficient mice. Immunity 7:653-665, 1997. PMID: 9390689.
14. Bogue MA, Wang C, Zhu C, Roth DB. V(D)J recombination in Ku86-deficient mice: distinct effects on coding, signal, and hybrid joint formation. Immunity 7(1):37-47, 1997. PMID: 9252118.
15. Steen SB, Zhu C, Roth DB. Double-strand breaks, DNA hairpins, and the mechanism of V(D)J recombination. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 217:61-78, 1996. PMID: 8787618.
16. Zhu C, Bogue MA, Lim DS, Hasty P, Roth DB. Ku86-deficient mice exhibit severe combined immunodeficiency and defective processing of V(D)J recombination intermediates. Cell 86(3):379-389, 1996. PMID: 8756720.
17. Zhu C, Roth DB. Mechanism of V(D)J recombination. Cancer Surv 28:295-309, 1996. PMID: 8977042.
18. Bogue MA, Zhu C, Aguilar-Cordova E, Donehower LA, Roth DB. p53 is required for both radiation-induced differentiation and rescue of V(D)J rearrangement in scid mouse thymocytes. Genes Dev 10(5):553-565, 1996. PMID: 8598286.
19. Zhu C, Bogue MA, Roth DB. Thymocyte differentiation in gamma-irradiated severe-combined immunodeficient mice: characterization of intermediates and products of V(D)J recombination at the T cell receptor alpha locus. Eur J Immunol 26(12):2859-2865, 1996. PMID: 8977278.
20. Zhu C, Roth DB. Characterization of coding ends in thymocytes of scid mice: implications for the mechanism of V(D)J recombination. Immunity 2(1):101-112, 1995. PMID: 7600297.
21. Kabotyanski EB, Zhu C, Kallick DA, Roth DB. Hairpin opening by single-strand-specific nucleases. Nucleic Acids Research 23:3872-3881, 1995. PMID: 7479030.
22. Roth DB, Zhu C, Gellert M. Characterization of broken DNA molecules associated with V(D)J recombination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 90(22):10788-10792, 1993. PMCID: PMC47863.
23. Sligh JE Jr, Hurwitz MY, Zhu C, Anderson DC, Beaudet AL. An initiation codon mutation in CD18 in association with the moderate phenotype of leukocyte adhesion deficiency. J Biol Chem 267:714-718, 1992. PMID: 1346132.
24. Zhu CM, Henney HR, Jr. DNA methylation pattern during the encystment of Physarum flavicomum. Biochem Cell Biol 68(6):944-948, 1990. PMID: 2168719.
25. Zhu CM, Henney HR, Jr. Intracellular polyamine patterns during encystment of Physarum flavicomum. Can J Microbiol 36:266-368, 1990. PMID: 2390746.
26. Zhu CM, Cumaraswamy A, Henney HR, Jr. Comparison of polyamine and S-adenosylmethionine contents of growing and encysted Acanthamoeba isolates. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 90:145-153, 1989. PMID: 2586495.
27. Zhu C. Determination of 5-methylcytosine content in normal and leukemia rats. Chinese Nature Journal 8:39-43, 1985.

Invited Articles
1. Puebla-Osorio N, Zhu C. DNA damage and repair during lymphoid development: Antigen receptor diversity, genomic integrity and lymphomagenesis. Immunol Res 41(2):103-122, 2008. PMID: 18214391.

Last updated: 3/6/2012