Transcription; intrinsically disordered regions; single-molecule imaging and biophysics; cancer biology
Profile
Shasha is finishing her postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and will start as an Assistant Professor at Caltech in August 2021. Research in the Chong lab interfaces between chemistry, physics, and biology to tackle the molecular mechanisms of fundamental cellular processes. We are interested in intrinsically disordered regions, which compose nearly half of the eukaryotic proteome and perform critical functions in numerous cellular processes without forming stable protein structures. Primary goals of our research include 1) understanding the fundamental rules that govern the interaction behaviors of intrinsically disordered regions and 2) elucidating their roles in regulating gene transcription under normal and disease conditions, including cancer and diabetes.
Biomolecular transactions are often highly dynamic, reversible, and heterogeneous. An in-depth mechanistic understanding of them requires visualizing biomolecules one at a time with high spatiotemporal resolution under physiological conditions. To this end, we will develop novel live-cell and in vitro single-molecule imaging methods and combine them with genome editing, biochemical, genomic, proteomic, and bioinformatic approaches in our research.
Chong, S.; Mir, M. (2020) "Towards decoding the sequence-based grammar governing the functions of intrinsically disordered protein regions" J. Mol. Biol., in press.
Esbin, M. N.; Whitney, O. N.; Chong, S.; Maurer, A.; Darzacq, X.; Tjian, R. (2020) "Overcoming the Bottleneck to Widespread Testing: A Rapid Review of Nucleic Acid Testing Approaches for COVID-19 Detection" RNA, 26, 771-783.
Wan, L.; Chong, S.*; Xuan, F.*; Liang, A.*; Cui, X.; Gates, L.; Carroll, T.; Li, Y.; Feng, L.; Chen, G.; Wang, S.-P.; Ortiz, M.; Daley, S.; Wang, X.; Xuan, H.; Kentsis, A.; Muir, T.; Roeder, R. G.; Li, H.; Li, W.; Tjian, R.; Wen, H.; Allis, C. D. (2020) "Impaired Cell Fate by Gain-of-Function Mutations in a Chromatin Reader" Nature, 577, 121-126.
Chong, S.; Dugast-Darzacq, C.; Liu, Z.; Dong, P.; Dailey, G. M.; Cattoglio, C.; Heckert, A.; Banala, S.; Lavis, L.; Darzacq, X.; Tjian, R. (2018) "Imaging Dynamic and Selective Low-Complexity Domain Interactions That Control Gene Transcription" Science, 361, eaar2555.
Chong, S.*; Chen, C.*; Ge, H.; Xie, X. S. (2014) "Mechanism of Transcriptional Bursting in Bacteria" Cell, 158, 314-326.
Kim, S.*; Broströmer, E.*; Xing, D.*; Jin, J.*; Chong, S.; Ge, H.; Wang, S.; Gu, C.; Yang, L.; Gao, Y. Q.; Su, X.; Sun, Y.; Xie, X. S. (2013) "Probing Allostery Through DNA" Science, 339, 816-819.
Chong, S.*; Min, W.* & Xie, X. S. (2010) "Ground-State Depletion Microscopy: Detection Sensitivity of Single-Molecule Optical Absorption at Room Temperature" J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 1, 3316-3322.
Lu, S.*; Min, W.*; Chong, S.; Holtom, G. R. & Xie, X. S. (2010) "Label-free Imaging of Heme Proteins with Two-photon Excited Photothermal Lens Microscopy" Appl. Phys. Lett., 96, 113701.
Min, W.*; Lu, S.*; Chong, S.; Roy, R.; Holtom, G. R. & Xie, X. S. (2009) "Imaging Chromophores with Undetectable Fluorescence by Stimulated Emission Microscopy" Nature, 461, 1105-1109.
Fu, Y.; Wang, H.-J.; Chong, S.; Guo, Q.-X. & Liu, L. (2009) "An Extensive Ylide Thermodynamic Stability Scale Predicted by First-Principle Calculation" J. Org. Chem., 74, 810-819.
Shi, J.; Chong, S.; Fu, Y.; Liu, L. & Guo, Q.-X. (2008) "Ring Opening versus Ring Expansion in Rearrangement of Bicyclic Cyclobutylcarbinyl Radicals" J. Org. Chem., 73, 974-982.
Chong, S.; Fu, Y.; Liu, L. & Guo, Q.-X. (2007) "O-H Bond Dissociation Enthalpies of Oximes: A Theoretical Assessment and Experimental Implications" J. Phys. Chem. A, 111, 13112-13125.
