Rui Su, Ph.D.

[email protected]
626-218-5628
Rui Su, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Biology
Research Area
  • Gene Region Specific N6-methyladenosine (m6A) Modification at Global MRNA Level
  • Development of Small Molecules Targeting M6A Regulators for Leukemia Therapy
  • Identification of Novel Mechanisms Participating Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy
Research Teams
Systems Biology

Dr. Rui Su received her B.S. from Shandong University and a Ph.D. from Peking Union Medical School, Beijing, China, in 2014. She joined Dr. Jianjun Chen’s lab at the University of Cincinnati as a postdoctoral fellow in 2015 and then moved to City of Hope in 2017. Dr. Su established her independent laboratory at the Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope, in 2021. 

Dr. Su’s laboratory mainly focuses on determining the biological functions and underlying mechanisms of RNA modifications and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in tumorigenesis (with an emphasis on acute myeloid leukemia and hepatocellular carcinoma). Several foundation awards (e.g., the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and the Leukemia Research Foundation) currently support her laboratory.

Education & Experience

Degrees

  • 2014, Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, China

  • 2009, B.S., Biomedical Science, Shandong University, China

Professional Experience

  • 2018-present, Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA

  • 2017-2018, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA

  • 2015-2017, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • 2020, The Margaret E. Early Medical Trust

  • 2015 and 2016, ASH Abstract Achievement Awards

  • 2014, The Distinguished Dissertation Award at Peking Union Medical College

  • 2014, The Excellent Ph.D. of Peking Union Medical College

  • 2012 and 2013, First-class Scholarship awarded from Peking Union Medical College

  • 2012 National Scholarship for Ph.D. student

  • 2011, Second-class Scholarship awarded from Peking Union Medical College

  • 2011, 2012 and 2013, Outstanding graduate student of Peking Union Medical College

  • 2006, 2007 and 2008, First-class Scholarship awarded from Shandong University

Memberships

  • ASH membership

Publications

  • Li Y, Su R#, Jianjun Chen#. Co-culture systems of drug-treated acute myeloid leukemia cells and T cells for in vitro and in vivo study. Star Protocols. (#co-senior author, in press)
  • Pi J, Wang W, Ji M, Wang X, Wei X, Jin J, Liu T, Qiang J, Qi Z, Li F, Liu Y, Ma Y, Si Y, Huo Y, Gao Y, Chen Y, Dong L,  Su R, Chen J, Rao S, Yi P, Yu S, Wang F, Yu J. YTHDF1 promotes gastric carcinogenesis by controlling translation of FZD7. Cancer Res. 2020 Aug 11; cancers.0066.2020.
  • Su R, Dong L, Li Y, Gao M, Han L, Wunderlich M, Deng X, Li H, Huang Y, Gao L, Li C, Zhao Z, Robinson S, Tan B, Qing Y, Qin X, Prince E, Xie J, Qin H, Li W, Shen C, Sun J, Kulkarni P, Weng H,  Huang H, Chen Z, Zhang B, Wu X, Olsen MJ, Müschen M, Marcucci G,  Salgia R, Li L,  T. AT, Li Z, Mulloy JC, Wei M, Horne D, Chen J. Targeting FTO suppresses cancer stem cell maintenance and immune evasion. Cancer Cell, 2020 Jul 13;38(1):79-96.e11.
  • Highlighted (Spotlight) by Molecular Cell (2020 Jun 18;78(6):996-998.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.05.027.)
  • Highlighted (Research Highlight) by Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (2020 Jun 29.
    DOI: 10.1038/d41573-020-00120-1)
  • Shen C, Sheng Y, Zhu AC, Robinson S, Jiang X, Dong L, Chen H, Su R, Yin Z, Li W, Deng X, Chen Y, Hu Y-C,  Weng H, Huang H, Prince E, Cogle CR, Sun M, Zhang B, Chen C-W, Marcucci G, He C, Qian Z, Chen J. Cell Stem Cell. 2020 Jul 2;27(1):64-80.e9. 
    Vanessa Gadoury-Levesque, Lei Dong, Rui Su, Jianjun Chen, Kejian Zhang, Kimberly A Risma, Rebecca A Marsh, Miao Sun. Frequency and spectrum of disease-causing variants in 1892 patients with suspected genetic HLH disorders. Blood Adv. 2020 Jun 23;4(12):2578-2594.
  • Zhao Z, Meng J, Su R, Zhang J, Chen J, Ma X, Xia Q. Epitranscriptomics in liver disease: Basic concepts and therapeutic potential. J Hepatol. 2020 Apr 21;S0168-8278(20)30221-X. 
  • Huang Y*, Su R*,  Sheng Y*, Dong L*, Dong Z*, Xu H, Ni T,  Scott Zhang ZS, Zhang T, Li C, Han L, Zhu Z, Lian F, Wei J, Deng Q, Wang Y, Wunderlich M, Gao Z, Pan G, Zhong D, Zhou H, Zhang N, Gan J, Jiang H, Mulloy JC, Qian Z, Chen J, Yang C-G. Small-molecule targeting of oncogenic FTO demethylase in acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer Cell. 2019 Apr 15;35(4):677-691.e10. (*co-first author)
    Highlighted (Previews) by Cancer Cell (2019 Apr 15;35(4):540-541.)
  • Li C*, Dong L*, Su R*, Bi Y, Qing Y, Deng X, Zhou Y, Hu C, Yu M, Huang H, Jiang X, Li X, He X, Zou D, Shen C, Han L, Sun M, Skibbe J, Ferchen K, Qin X, Weng H, Huang H, Song C, Chen J, Jin J. Homoharringtonine exhibits potent anti-tumor effect and modulates DNA epigenome in acute myeloid leukemia by targeting SP1/TET1/5hmC. Haematologica. 2019 Apr 11. pii: haematol.2018.208835. (*co-first author)
  • Huang H, Weng H, Zhou K, Wu T, Zhao BS, Sun M,  Chen Z, Deng X, Xiao G, Auer F, Klemm L, Wu H, Zuo Z, Qin X, Dong Y,  Zhou Y, Qin H, Tao S, Du J, Liu J, Lu Z, Yin H, Mesquita A, Yuan CL, Hu Y-C, Sun W, Su R, Dong L, Shen C, Li C, Qing Y, Jiang X, Wu X, Sun M, Guan J-L,  Qu L, Wei M, Müschen M, Huang G, He C, Yang J, Chen J. Histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 36 guides m6A RNA modification co-transcriptionally. Nature. 2019 Mar;567(7748):414-419.
  • Wei J, Liu F, Lu Z, Fei Q, Ai Y, He PC, Shi H, Cui X, Su R, Klungland A, Jiang G,  Chen J, He C. Differential m6A, m6Am, and m1A Demethylation Mediated by FTO in the Cell Nucleus and Cytoplasm. Mol Cell. 2018 Sep 20;71(6):973-985.e5.
  • Deng X, Su R, Stanford S, Chen J. Critical Enzymatic Functions of FTO in Obesity and Cancer. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2018 Jul 30;9:396. 
    Xiaolan Deng, Rui Su, Hengyou Weng, Huilin Huang, Zejuan Li, Jianjun Chen. RNA N6-methyladenosine modification in cancers: current status and perspectives. Cell Res. 2018 May;28(5):507-517
  • Huang H, Weng H, Sun W, Qin X, Shi H, Wu H, Zhao BS, Mesquita A, Liu C, Yuan CL, Hu Y-C, Hüttelmaier S, Skibbe JR, Su R, Deng X, Dong L, Sun M, Li C, Nachtergaele S, Wang Y, Hu C, Ferchen K, D. Greis KD, Jiang X, Wei M, Qu L, Guan J-L, He C, Yang J, Chen J. Recognition of RNA N6-methyladenosine by IGF2BP proteins enhances mRNA stability and translation. Nat Cell Biol. 2018 Mar;20(3):285-295
  • Xiaolan Deng, Rui Su, Xuesong Feng, Minjie Wei, Jianjun Chen. Role of N6-methyladenosine modification in cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2018 Feb;48:1-7.
  • Weng H, Huang H, Wu H, Qin X, Zhao BS,  Dong L, Shi H, Skibbe J, Shen C, Hu C, Sheng Y, Wang Y, Wunderlich M, Zhang B, Dore LC, Su R, Deng X, Ferchen K, Li C, Sun M, Lu Z, Jiang X, Marcucci G, Mulloy JC, Yang J, Qian Z, Wei M, He C, Chen J. METTL14 Inhibits Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Differentiation and Promotes Leukemogenesis via mRNA m6A Modification. Cell Stem Cell. 2018 Feb 1;22(2):191-205.e9
  • Su R, Dong L, Li C, Nachtergaele S, Wunderlich M, Wang Y, Weng X, Hu C, Yu M, Strong J, Dai Q, Zou D, Qing Y, Weng H, Huang H, Ferchen K, Qin X, Zhang B, Qi J, Sasaki AT, Plas D, Bradner JE, Wei M, Marcucci G,  Jiang X, Mulloy J, Jin J, He C, Chen J. R-2HG exhibits anti-tumor activity by targeting FTO/MYC signaling. Cell, 2018 Jan 11;172(1-2):90-105.e23.
  • Deng X, Su R, Stanford S, Chen J. Critical enzymatic functions of FTO in obesity and cancer. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2018, 9:396. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2018.00396.
  • Deng X, Su R, Huang H, Weng H, Li Z, Chen J. RNA N6-methyladenosine in cancers: current status and perspectives. Cell Research. 2018, 28(5):507-517.
  • Deng X, Su R, Feng X, Wei M, Chen J. Role of N6-methyladenosine modification in cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2017, 48:1-7.
  • Huang H, Weng H, Sun W, Qin X, Shi H, Wu H, Zhao BS, Mesquita A, Liu C, Yuan CL, Hu Y-C, Hüttelmaier S, Skibbe JR, Su R, Deng X, Dong L, Sun M, Li C, Nachtergaele S, Wang Y, Hu C, Ferchen K, Greis KD, Jiang X, Wei M, Qu L, Guan J-L, He C, Yang J, Chen J. Recognition of RNA N6-methyladenosine by IGF2BP proteins enhances mRNA stability and translation. Nat Cell Biol. 2018 Mar;20(3):285-295
  • Weng H, Huang H, Wu H, Qin X, Zhao BS, Dong L, Shi H, Skibbe J, Shen C, Hu C, Sheng Y, Wang Y, Wunderlich, Zhang, Dore LC, Su R, Deng X, Ferchen K, Li C, Sun M, Lu Z, Jiang X, Marcucci G, Mulloy JC, Yang J, Qian Z, Wei M, He C, Chen J. METTL14 Inhibits Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Differentiation and Promotes Leukemogenesis via mRNA m6A Modification. Cell Stem Cell. 2018 Feb 1;22(2):191-205.e9
  • Li Z*, Weng H*, Su R*, Weng X*, Zuo Z*, Li C, Huang H, Hu C, Qin X, Tang L, Wang Y, Hong G-M, Huang H, Wang X, Chen P, Gurbuxani S, Arnovitz S, Li Y, Li S, Strong J, Neilly MB, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Jiang X, Zhang P, Jin J, He C, Chen J. FTO plays an oncogenic role in acute myeloid leukemia as a N6-methyladenosine RNA demethylase. Cancer Cell, 2017 Jan 9;31(1):127-141. (*co-first author)
  • Jiang X, Hu C, Ferchen K, Nie J, Cui X, Chen C-H, Cheng L, Zuo Z, Seibel W, He C, Tang Y, Skibbe JR, Wunderlich M, Reinhold WC, Dong L, Shen C, Arnovitz S, Ulrich B, Lu J, Weng H, Su R, Huang H, Wang Y, Li C, Qin X, Mulloy JC, Zheng Y, Diao J, Jin J, Li C, Liu PP, He C, Chen Y, Chen J. Targeted inhibition of STAT/TET1 axis as a therapeutic strategy for acute myeloid leukemia. Nat Commun. 2017 Dec 13;8(1):2099.
  • Wang F, Song W, Zhao H, Ma Y, Li Y, Zhai D, Pi J, Si Y, Xu J, Dong L, Su R, Zhang M, Yong Zhu Y, Ren X, Miao F, Liu W, Li F, Zhang J, He A, Shan G, Hui J, Wang L, Yu J. The RNA-binding protein QKI5 regulates primary miR-124-1 processing via a distal RNA motif during erythropoiesis. Cell Research. 2017 Mar;27(3):416-439
  • Song L, Lin H-S, Gong J-N, Han H, Wang X-S, Su R, Chen M-T, Shen C, Ma Y-N, Yu Y, Zhang J-W. microRNA-451-modulated hnRNP A1 takes a part in granulocytic differentiation regulation and acute myeloid leukemia. Oncotarget. 2017 Jul 18. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.19325.
  • Shen C, Chen M-T, Zhang X-H, Yin X-L, Ning H-M, Su R, Lin H-S, Song L, Wang F, Ma Y-N, Zhao H-L, Yu J, Zhang J-W. The PU.1-Modulated MicroRNA-22 Is a Regulator of Monocyte/Macrophage Differentiation and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. PLoS Genet. 2016 Sep 12;12(9):e1006259. 
  • Su R, Gong J-N, Song L, Chen M-T, Shen C, Zhang X-H, Yin X-L, Ning H-M, Liu B, Wang F, Ma Y-N, Zhao H-L, Yu J, Zhang J-W. Overexpression of c-Myc recruits HDAC3 to epigenetically suppress miR-451 and further activates YWHAZ/AKT axis in acute myeloid leukemia. Oncotarget. 2016 Nov 22;7(47):77430-77443.
  • Li Z*, Chen P*, Su R*, Hu C*, Li Y,  Elkahloun AG, Zuo Z, Gurbuxani S, Arnovitz S, Weng H, Wang Y, Li S, Huang H, Neilly MB, Wang GG, Jiang X, Liu PP, Jin J, Chen J. PBX3 and MEIS1 Cooperate in Hematopoietic Cells to Drive Acute Myeloid Leukemias Characterized by a Core Transcriptome of the MLL-Rearranged Disease. Cancer Res. 2016 Feb 1;76(3):619-29. (*co-first author)
  • Su R#, Dong L, Zou D, Zhao H, Yi R, Li F, Yi P, Li L, Zhu Y, Ma Y, Wang F, Yu J#. microRNA-23a, -27a and -24 synergistically regulate JAK1/Stat3 cascade and serve as novel therapeutic targets in human acute erythroid leukemia. Oncogene. 2016 Apr 18. doi: 10.1038/onc.2016.127. (#co-senior author)
  • Yin* H, Song* P, Su R*, Yang G, Dong L, Luo M, Wang B, Gong B, Liu C, Song W, Wang F, Ma Y, Zhang J, Wang W, Yu J. DNA Methylation mediated down-regulating of microRNA-33b and its role in gastric cancer. Sci Rep. 2016 Jan 5;6:18824. (*co-first author)
  • Su R, Lin H, Zhang X, Yin X, Ning H, Liu B, Pengfei P, Gong J, Shen C, Song L, Chen J, Wang F, Zhao H, Ma Y, Yu J, Zhang J. MiR-181 family: the regulators of myeloid differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia as well as potentially therapeutic targets. Oncogene. 2015 Jun;34(25):3226-39.
  • Li Z*, Chen P*, Su R*, Li Y, Hu C, Wang Y, Arnovitz S, He M, Gurbuxani S, Zuo Z, Elkahloun AG, Li S, Weng H, Huang H, Neilly MB, Wang S, Olson EN, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Zhang J, Jiang X, Wei M, Jin J, P. Liu PP, Chen J. Overexpression and knockout of miR-126 both promote leukemogenesis through targeting distinct gene signaling. Blood. 2015 Oct 22;126(17):2005-15. (*co-first author)
  • Chen M-T, Dong L, Zhang X-H, Yin X-L, Ning H-M, Shen C, Su R, Li F, Li L, Ma Y-N, Wang F, Zhao H-L, Yu J, Zhang J-W. ZFP36L1 promotes monocyte/macrophage differentiation by repressing CDK6. Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 6;5:16229.
  • Wang Y, Liu C, Luo M, Zhang Z, Gong J, Li J, You L, Dong L, Su R, Lin H, Ma Y, Wang F, Wang Y, ie Chen J, Zhang J, Jia H, Kong Y, Yu J. Chemotherapy-Induced miRNA-29c/Catenin-δ Signaling Suppresses Metastasis in Gastric Cancer. Cancer Res. 2015 Apr 1;75(7): 1332-44
  • Zhai P-F, Wang F, Su R, Lin H-S, Jiang C-L, Yang G-H, Yu J, Zhang J-W. The regulatory roles of microRNA-146b-5p and its target platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRA) in erythropoiesis and megakaryocytopoiesis. J Biol Chem. 2014 Aug 15;289(33):22600-13.
  • Lin H-S, Gong J-N, Su R, Chen M-T, Song L, Shen C, Wang F, Ma Y-N, Zhao H-L, Yu J, Li W-W, Huang L-X, Xu X-H, Zhang J-W. MiR-199a-5p inhibits monocyte/macrophage differentiation by targeting the activin A type 1B receptor gene and finally reducing C/EBPα level. J Leukoc Biol. 2014 Dec;96(6):1023-35.
  • Chen J, Li X-B, Su R, Song L, Wang F, Zhang J-W. ZNF16 (HZF1) promotes erythropoiesis and megakaryocytopoiesis via its regulation on JPO2 and c-KIT. Biochem J. 2014 Feb 15; 458(1):171-83.
  • Gong J-N, Yu J, Lin H-S, Zhang X-H, Yin X-L, Xiao Z, Wang F, Wang X-S, Su R, Shen C, Zhao H-L, Ma Y-N, Zhang J-W. The role, mechanism and potentially therapeutic application of microRNA-29 family in acute myeloid leukemia. Cell Death Differ. 2014 Jan;21(1):100-12.
*co-first author; #co-senior author