Zheng Sun, Ph.D.
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Zheng Sun, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Positions
- Associate Professor
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Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
- Member
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Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Member
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Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Member
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Huffington Center on Aging
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Member
-
Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
Addresses
- Alkek Building for Biomedical Research (Office)
-
Room: ABBR-R616
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-3164
https://www.bcm.edu/research/labs/zheng-sun
Education
- PhD from University of Arizona
- Tucson
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship at University of Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia
Professional Interests
- Epigenomic regulation of energy metabolism and neurocognition by physical exercise, diet, endocrine factors, and the circadian clock.
Professional Statement
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Hormesis, the paradoxical beneficial effect of low-dose stressors, can be elicited by reactive oxygen species, chemical toxins, calorie restriction, and physical exercise. Timing is everything in resilience. Intermittent exposure can generate opposite effects compared with continuous exposure. Early-life stress can increase resilience in later life and lack of stress can lead to vulnerability. An initial exposure can elicit an adaptive stress response with long-term epigenomic changes that anticipate subsequent exposures.We are interested in how energy metabolism and neurocognition are regulated at the epigenomic level by the environmental factors including diet, physical exercise, hormones, and the circadian clock. We apply multi-omics approaches, optogenetics, chemogenetics, single-cell techniques, genome editing, novel viral vectors, metabolic tracing, neuronal tracing, and neurobehavioral tests.
Keywords: circadian clock, epigenome, nuclear hormone receptor, diabetes, heart failure, autism, neurodegenerative disease
Websites
Selected Publications
- Peng F, Li X, Xiao F, Zhao R, Sun Z. "Circadian clock, diurnal glucose metabolic rhythm, and dawn phenomenon." Trends Neurosci.. 2022;45(6):471-482.
- Song S, Tien CL, Cui H, Basil P, Zhu N, Gong Y, Li W, Li H, Fan Q, Min Choi J, Luo W, Xue Y, Cao R, Zhou W, Ortiz AR, Stork B, Mundra V, Putluri N, York B, Chu M, Chang J, Yun Jung S, Xie L, Song J, Zhang L, Sun Z. "Myocardial Rev-erb-Mediated Diurnal Metabolic Rhythm and Obesity Paradox." Circulation. 2022;145(6):448-464. Pubmed PMID: 35034472
- Ding G, Li X, Hou X, Zhou W, Gong Y, Liu F, He Y, Song J, Wang J, Basil P, Li W, Qian S, Saha P, Wang J, Cui C, Yang T, Zou K, Han Y, Amos CI, Xu Y, Chen L, Sun Z. "Rev-erb in GABAergic neurons controls diurnal hepatic insulin sensitivity." Nature. 2021;592(7856):763-767.
- Gong Y, Xue Y, Li X, Zhang Z, Zhou W, Marcolongo P, Benedetti A, Mao S, Han L, Ding G, Sun Z. "Inter- and trans-generational effects of paternal exposure to inorganic arsenic." Adv. Sci. 2021;8(7):2002715.
- Kong Y, Zhou W, Sun Z "Nuclear receptor corepressors in intellectual disability and autism.." Mol Psychiatry. 2020;161(8):bqaa083. Pubmed PMID: 32034290
- Zhou W, He Y, Rehman AU, Kong Y, Hong Y, Ding G, Yalamanchili HK, Wan Y-W, Paul B, Wang C, Gong Y, Zhou W, Liu H, Dean J, Scalais E, O’Driscoll M, Morton JEV, DDD study, Hou X, Wu Q, Tong Q, Liu Z, Liu P, Xu Y, Sun Z "Loss of function of NCOR1 and NCOR2 impairs memory through a novel GABAergic hypothalamus–CA3 projection." Nat Neurosci. 2019;22(2):205-217. Pubmed PMID: 30664766
- Li X, Yang T, Sun Z. "Hormesis in health and chronic diseases." Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2019;(19)30174-2 Pubmed PMID: 31521464
- Hong S, Zhou W, Fang B, Lu W, Loro E, Damle M, Ding G, Jager J, Zhang S, Zhang Y, Feng D, Chu Q, Dill BD, Molina H, Khurana TS, Rabinowitz JD, Lazar MA, Sun Z "Dissociation of muscle insulin sensitivity from exercise endurance in mice by HDAC3 depletion." Nat Med. 2017;23(2):223-234. Pubmed PMID: 27991918
- Zhang Y, Fang B, Emmett MJ, Damle M, Sun Z, Feng D, Armour SM, Remsberg JR, Jager J, Soccio RE, Steger DJ, Lazar MA "Discrete functions of nuclear receptor Rev-erbα couple metabolism to the clock.." Science. 2015;348(6242):1488-92. Pubmed PMID: 26044300
- Papazyan R, Sun Z, Kim YH, Titchenell PM, Hill DA, Lu W, Damle M, Wan M, Zhang Y, Briggs ER, Rabinowitz JD, Lazar MA "Physiological Suppression of Lipotoxic Liver Damage by Complementary Actions of HDAC3 and SCAP/SREBP." Cell Metab. 2016;24(6):863-874. Pubmed PMID: 27866836
- Fang B, Everett LJ, Jager J, Briggs E, Armour SM, Feng D, Roy A, Gerhart-Hines Z, Sun Z, Lazar MA. "Circadian enhancers coordinate multiple phases of rhythmic gene transcription in vivo.." Cell. 2014;159(5):1140-52. Pubmed PMID: 25416951
- Sun Z, Feng D, Fang B, Mullican SE, You SH, Lim HW, Everett LJ, Nabel CS, Li Y, Selvakumaran V, Won KJ, Lazar MA "Deacetylase-independent function of HDAC3 in transcription and metabolism requires nuclear receptor corepressor." Mol Cell. 2013;52(6):769-82. Pubmed PMID: 24268577
- Sun Z, Lazar MA "Dissociating fatty liver and diabetes." Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2013;24(1):4-12. Pubmed PMID: 23043895
- Sun Z, Feng D, Everett LJ, Bugge A, Lazar MA "Circadian epigenomic remodeling and hepatic lipogenesis: lessons from HDAC3." Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 2011;76:49-55. Pubmed PMID: 21900149
- Feng D, Liu T, Sun Z, Bugge A, Mullican SE, Liu XS, Lazar MA "An epigenomic circadian rhythm orchestrated by histone deacetylase 3 controls hepatic lipid metabolism." Science. 2011;331(6022):1315-9. Pubmed PMID: 21393543
- Sun Z, Miller RA, Patel RT, Chen J, Dhir R, Wang H, Zhang D, Graham MJ, Unterman TG, Shulman GI, Sztalryd C, Bennett MJ, Ahima RS, Birnbaum MJ, Lazar MA "Hepatic Hdac3 Promotes Gluconeogenesis by Repressing Lipid Synthesis and Sequestration." Nat Med. 2012;18(6):934-42. Pubmed PMID: 22561686
- You SH, Lim HW, Sun Z, Broache M, Won KJ, Lazar MA "Nuclear receptor co-repressors are required for the histone-deacetylase activity of HDAC3 in vivo." Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2013;20(2):182-7. Pubmed PMID: 23292142
- Sun Z, Singh N, Mullican SE, Everett LJ, Li L, Yuan L, Liu X, Epstein JA, Lazar MA "Diet-induced lethality due to deletion of the hdac3 gene in heart and skeletal muscle." J Biol Chem. 2011;286(38):33301-9. Pubmed PMID: 21808063
- Sun Z, Wu T, Birch CM, Zhang DD "KPNA6-mediated nuclear import of Keap1 is required for sufficient repression of Nrf2-dependent antioxidant response." Mol Cell Biol. 2011;31(9):1800-11. Pubmed PMID: 21383067
- Sun Z, Chin YE, Zhang DD "Acetylation of Nrf2 by p300/CBP augments promoter-specific DNA binding of Nrf2 during antioxidant response." Mol Cell Biol. 2009;29:2658-72. Pubmed PMID: 19273602
- Sun Z, Zhang S, Chan JY, Zhang DD "Keap1 controls postinduction repression of the Nrf2-mediated antioxidant response by escorting nuclear export of Nrf2." Mol Cell Biol. 2007;27:6334-49. Pubmed PMID: 17636022
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