Research Areas

The Deng laboratory is interested in cell cycle regulation and genome instability. We use a combination of cutting-edge techniques such as in vitro  biochemical reconstitution, genome engineering, high throughput live-cell imaging, genome sequencing and so forth, to address how cells coordinate growth and division under normal and pathological conditions such as cancer.

Highlights

Dr. Lin Deng has a long-standing interest in cell cycle regulation and genome instability. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College in U.S., supervised by Dr. James Moseley. His Ph.D. work dissected the signaling pathways for G2/M transition and discovered many novel factors and sub-cellular structures that regulate cell growth and division. Dr. Deng received his postdoc training at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, jointly supervised by Dr. David Pellman and Joahnnes Walter. His postdoc research revealed novel mechanisms of genome instability induced by DNA replication stress and cell cycle defects.

Dr. Deng’s research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as  Molecular Cell, Current Biology, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and so forth. These works have been recognized by several awards including The International Youth Friend of Shenzhen, China (2017), E. Lucile Smith Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, Dartmouth Medical School (2015), Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad (2014), and John H. Copenhaver, Jr. and William H. Thomas, MD 1952 Fellow, Dartmouth College (2014).

Mechanism of genome instability caused by premature mitosis

Honors

• 2020    Oversea High-caliber Personnel, Shenzhen, China

• 2017    The International Youth Friend of Shenzhen City, China

• 2015    Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad

• 2015     E. Lucile Smith Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, Dartmouth Medical School

• 2014 - 2015    John H. Copenhaver, Jr. and William H. Thomas, MD 1952 Fellow, Dartmouth College

Selected Publications

1. Deng, L., Wu, R.A., Sonneville, R., Kochenova, O.V., Labib, K., Pellman, D., and Walter, J.C. (2019). Mitotic CDK promotes replisome disassembly, fork collapse, and complex DNA rearrangements. Molecular Cell, 73(5):915-929.e6. PMID:30849395.

** Recommended by F1000 in Cell Biology

2. Deng, L., Lee, M.E. Schutt K.L., and Moseley, J.B. (2017). Phosphatases generate signal specificity downstream of Ssp1 kinase in fission yeast. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 37:e00494-16.doi: 10.1128/MCB.00494-16. PMID: 28223368.

** Featured article in MCB, May 2017.

3. Deng, L., Baldissard, S., Kettenbach, A.N., Gerber, S.A., and Moseley, J.B. (2014). Dueling kinases regulate cell size at division through the SAD kinase Cdr2. Current Biology 24, 428-433. PMID: 24508166.

4. Deng, L., Kabeche, R., Wang, N., Wu, J.-Q., and Moseley, J.B. (2014). Megadalton node assembly by binding of Skb1 to the membrane anchor Slf1. Molecular Biology of the Cell 25, 2660-2668. PMID: 25009287. 

** A highlight from MBoC Selection; Highlighted in October 2014 ASCB Newsletter

5. Deng, L., and Moseley, J.B. (2013). Compartmentalized nodes control mitotic entry signaling in fission yeast. Molecular Biology of the Cell 24, 1872-1881. PMID: 23615447. 

** A highlight from MBoC Selection; Highlighted in July 2013 ASCB Newsletter