Jun Lu, PhD

The completion of the human genome project leads to the realization that only a small percentage of our heritable DNA sequences encodes proteins. Instead of being “junk DNA”, a significant portion of the noncoding genome has functions, in the forms of non-coding RNAs, binding sites for protein factors or other functional sequences. These noncoding elements often cross-talk with epigenetic machinery to regulate cell fate and behavior.

In our laboratory, we use the amazing blood-forming system, or hematopoiesis, as a model to study the noncoding and epigenetic controls.

There are several areas that my lab is currently focusing on. First, we are excited about a new class of noncoding RNAs that are presented on the outer cell surface with glycosylation modifications. We recently revealed the first known function of these glycoRNAs in the setting of neutrophil biology. There are many questions that await answers, including glycoRNAs' functions in other cellular systems, their mechanisms of biogenesis and regulation, and their translational and therapeutic potentials. Second, we are interested in understanding why and how differentiated cell types adopt special morphologies. We are currently studying the morphology of the neutrophil nucleus, which becomes non-spherical during differentiation from stem and progenitor cells. Third, we investigate general principles of cancers and their cross talk with immune cells.