Research group Group Dai

Regulation of cell fate decision is fundamental to development, disease, and regeneration. We address how gene regulatory systems guide the assembly of complex biological patterns by investigating stem cell biology and cell fate decision mechanisms.


Animal development is a fascinating process, as a single cell, the fertilized egg, develops into the adult body with many functional cell types. How do cells become different although they carry the same genetic material? Each cell type bears a unique gene expression program that decides what the cell should become into. Gene regulators control gene expression program by determining which genes should be turned on and/or how much of the gene products should be made. We are particularly interested in two classes of gene regulators, chromatin architectural proteins and cell-type specific transcription factors. We study the evolutionarily conserved function of these factors in cell fate decision and gene regulation. Our research is summarized in two projects.

  • Cell-type specific role of chromatin organization
  • Gene regulatory mechanisms in neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation

PRDM16 regulates a temporal transcriptional program to promote progression of cortical neural - progenitors. He L, Jones J, He W, Bjork C.B., Wen J, Dai Q. Development. February 17, 2021, doi:10.1242/dev.194670

Oxidative stress regulates progenitor behavior and cortical neurogenesis. - Chui A, Zhang Q, Dai Q and Shi S. . Development. 2020 147: dev184150. PMID: 32041791.

BEN-solo factors partition active chromatin to ensure proper gene activation in Drosophila. - Ueberschar M, Wang H, Zhang C, Kondo S, Aoki T, Schedl P, Lai EC, Wen J, Dai Q. Nature Communications. 2019 Dec 13;10(1): 5700. PMID: 31836703.

Generation of a multipurpose Prdm16 allele by targeted trapping. - Strassman A, Schnutgen F, Dai Q, Jones JC, Gomez AC, Pitstick L, Holton NE, Moskal R, Leslie ER, vonMelchner H, Beier DR, and Bjork BC. Disease Models & Mechanisms. 2017 Jul 1;10(7):909-922. PMID: 28424158.

Common and distinct DNA-binding and regulatory activities of the BEN-solo transcription factor - family. Dai Q, Ren A, Westholm JO, Duan H, Patel DJ and Lai EC. Genes & Development. 2015 Jan 1; 29(1): 48-62. PMID: 25561495.

BEND6 is a nuclear antagonist of Notch signaling during self-renewal of neural stem cells. - Dai Q, Andreu-Agullo C, Insolera R, Wong LC, Shi SH and Lai EC. Development. 2013 May 1; 140 (9) :1892-902. PMID: 23571214.

The BEN domain is a novel sequence-specific DNA binding domain conserved in neural transcriptional - repressors. Dai Q, Ren A, Westholm JO, Serganov AA, Patel DJ and Lai EC. Genes & Development. 2013 Mar 15;27(6):602-14. PMID: 23468431.

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