Dr. Guolei Zhou

Professor of Cell Biology

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Education

• Ph.D.  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tottori University; Tottori, Japan
• M.S.  Life Science and Biotechnology, Shimane University; Matsue, Japan
• M.S.  Genetics and Plant Breeding, China Agricultural University; Beijing, China
• B.S.  Genetics and Plant Breeding, China Agricultural University; Beijing, China

Teaching Specialties

• Biology of the Cell (Lecture & Lab for undergraduates)
• Cell Biology (Lecture for undergraduates and graduate students)
• Advanced Cell Biology (Lecture for graduate students)
• Biological Sciences Seminar
• Cancer Biology (Lecture for undergraduates)
• Environmental Microbiology (Lecture for undergraduate and graduate students)
• Biological Science (Lecture & Lab for undergraduates)

Research Interests

• Signal transduction
• Actin cytoskeleton
• Cell adhesion
• Cell migration
• Cell proliferation
• Cancerous transformation 

The primary goal of our current research is to understand how CAP1 (Cyclase-Associated Protein 1), through its phosphor-regulation, mediates its regulatory signals to control cell functions including matrix adhesion, migration, proliferation and survival.  The mechanistic insights will not only extend our knowledge on how the living systems function, but also carry important translational potential especially for developing targeted cancer therapeutics, because dys-regulation of these fundamental cell functions underlies the critical hallmarks of cancer, in morphological and proliferative transformations.  CAP is best established as a key actin-regulating protein in eukaryotes; however, studies in our lab have uncovered far more versatile functions for CAP1, the ubiquitous mammalian isoform, as well as important molecular insights.  Our findings over the last decade have made prominent contributions to the current knowledge on CAP1.  Our discovery of CAP1 phosphor-regulation, where multiple cell signals converge on CAP1 to control cell adhesion, migration, invasiveness, proliferation and anchorage-independent growth provided a completely new theoretical concept and opened up directions for in-depth understanding of CAP1 functions particularly from its role in linking the involved cell signals to control the relevant downstream effectors.  We recently identified a novel cell signaling pathway where CAP1 mediates signals from the major second messenger cAMP, which induces CAP1 dephosphorylation, to activate Rap1 in stimulating matrix adhesion in colon cancer cells.  Importantly, we found this cAMP/CAP1/Rap1 cascade is conserved in breast cancer cells, where it also regulates cell proliferation and survival, despite a twist in that Rap1 is oppositely regulated by the cAMP/CAP1 axis depending on the cell type.  We are currently dissecting the roles and further mechanisms in breast cancer cells. 

Selected publications from our lab (Senior/Corresponding author in bold)

Ramsey A., Akana, L., Miyajima E., Douglas S., Gray J., Rowland A., Sharma K.D., Xu J., Xie J.Y., Zhou G.L.  CAP1 (cyclase-associated protein 1) Mediates the Cyclic AMP Signals that Activate Rap1 in Stimulating Matrix Adhesion of Colon Cancer Cells. Cellular Signalling 2023; 104: 110589.

Zhang H., Ramsey A., Xiao Y., Karki U., Xie J.Y., Xu J., Kelly T., Ono S., Zhou G.L.  Dynamic Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation of Cyclase-Associated Protein 1 by Antagonistic Signaling through Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 and cAMP Are Critical for the Protein Functions in Actin Filament Disassembly and Cell Adhesion. Molecular and Cellular Biology 2020: 40(4): e00282-19. Doi: 10.1128/MCB.00282-19.  Highlighted as the Cover Image for the journal issue.

Wu H., Hasan R., Zhang H., Gray J., Williams D., Miller M., Allen F., Lee V., Kelly T., Zhou G.L. Phosphorylation Regulates CAP1 (Cyclase-Associated Protein 1) Functions in the Motility and Invasion of Pancreatic Cancer Cells. Scientific Reports 2019: 9, 4925. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41346-3.

Zhang H, Zhou G.L.  CAP1 (Cyclase-Associated Protein 1) Exerts Distinct Functions in the Proliferation and Metastatic Potential of Breast Cancer Cells Mediated by ERK. Scientific Reports 2016: 13;6:25933.

Zhou G.L., Zhang H., Wu H., Ghai P., Field J.  Phosphorylation of the Cytoskeletal Protein CAP1 Controls Its Association with Cofilin and Actin. Journal of Cell Science 2014 Dec 1; 127:5052-65.  Highlighted in the “In This Issue” section of the journal.

Zhang H., Ghai P, Wu H., Wang C., Field J., Zhou G.L.  Mammalian Adenylyl Cyclase-Associated Protein 1 (CAP1) Regulates Cofilin Function, the Actin Cytoskeleton, and Cell Adhesion. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2013 Jul 19;288(29):20966-77.

Complete List of Published Work in My Bibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/guolei.zhou.1/bibliography/48055318/public/

Curriculum Vitae

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