Dr. Zhou is a scientist in the Johns Hopkins All Children's Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute and the Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, and a member of the Center for RNA Biology. He also is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Biological Chemistry and Oncology in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Zhou trained with Dr. Tom Maniatis and received his PhD degree from Harvard University. After postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Norbert Perrimon, Dr. Zhou joined Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California, where he worked as an independent investigator until 2018 when he joined Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
The vast majority of RNAs in higher organisms do not produce proteins, thus are collectively referred to as regulatory and non-coding RNAs. These RNAs take various forms (long and short, circular and linear), and play a key role in a wide array of physiological processes, including cell proliferation, antiviral defense, neurodevelopment, and cellular metabolism. Dr. Zhou’s group employs a combination of biochemical, genetic and functional genomic approaches in both fruit flies and cultured mammalian cells to study the function and regulation of non-coding RNAs. In particular, his lab focuses on how defects in microRNA and circular RNA production and/or function can lead to immune disorders, defective neural development, metabolic diseases and tumor formation.
The vast majority of the transcriptome in eukaryotes do not produce proteins, thus are referred to as regulatory and non-coding RNAs. These RNAs play a key role in a wide array of physiological processes, including cell cycle, development, innate immunity and homeostasis. Dysregulation of non-coding RNA production or function can lead to various pathological conditions in humans. Dr. Zhou’s group employs a combination of biochemical, genetic and functional genomic approaches in both the genetically tractable model organism Drosophila melanogaster and cultured mammalian cells to study the function and regulation of non-coding RNAs. His lab particularly focuses on how defects in microRNA and circular RNA production and/or function can lead to immune disorders, defective neural development, metabolic diseases and tumor formation.
Selected Publications
- Silverman N, *Zhou R, Stöven S, Pandey N, Hultmark D, Maniatis T. A Drosophila IκB kinase complex required for Relish cleavage and anti-bacterial immunity. Genes & Development. 2000; 14(19):2461-71. PMCID: 316979. (*equal contribution).
- Zhou R, Silverman N, Hong M, Liao DS, Chung Y, Chen ZJ, Maniatis T. The role of ubiquitination in Drosophila innate immunity. J. Biol. Chem. 2005; 280(40):34048-55.
- Baeg GH, *Zhou R, Perrimon N. Genome-wide RNAi analysis of JAK/STAT signaling components in Drosophila. Genes & Development. 2005; 19(16):1861-70. PMCID: 1186186. (*equal contribution).
- Zhou R, *Hotta I, Delni AM, Hong P, Perrimon N, Hannon GJ. Comparative analysis of Argonaute-dependent small RNA pathways in Drosophila. Molecular Cell. 2008; 32(4):592-599. PMCID: 2615197. (*equal contribution).
- Sabin L, Zhou R, Gruber J, Lukinova N, Bambina S, Berman A, Thompson C, Cherry S. Ars2 regulates both miRNA and siRNA-dependent silencing to suppress RNA virus infection in Drosophila. Cell. 2009; 138(2):340-351. PMCID: 2717035.
- Zhou R, *Czech B, Brennecke J, Sachidanandam R, Wohlschlegel J, Perrimon N, Hannon GJ. Processing of Drosophila endo-siRNAs depends on a specific Loquacious isoform. RNA. 2009; 15(10):1886-95. PMCID: 2743050. (*equal contribution).
- Czech B, *Zhou R, Erlich Y, Brennecke J, Binari R, Villata C, Gordon A, Perrimon N, Hannon GJ. Hierarchical rules for Argonaute loading in Drosophila. Molecular Cell. 2009; 36(3):445-456. PMCID: 2795325. (*equal contribution).
- Ni JQ, *Zhou R, Czech B*, Liu LP, Holderbaum L, Yang-Zhou D, Shim HS, Handler D, Karpowicz P, Binari R, Booker M, Brennecke J, Perkins LA, Hannon GJ, Perrimon N. A genome-scale shRNA resource for transgenic RNAi in Drosophila. Nature Methods. 2011; 8(8):405-7. (*equal contribution). PMCID: PMC3489273.
- Xiong XP, Kurthkoti K, Chang KY, Lichinchi G, De N, Schneemann A, MacRae IJ, Rana TM, *Perrimon N, *Zhou R. Core small nucleoprotein particle splicing factor SmD1 modulates RNA interference in Drosophila. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2013; 110(41):16520-5.PMCID: PMC3799365. (*co-corresponding author).
- Lim SJ, Scott A, Xiong XP, Vahidpour S, Karijolich J, Guo D, Pei S, Yu YT, *Zhou R, *Li WX. Requirement for CRIF1 in RNA interference and Dicer-2 stability. RNA Biology. 2014; 11(9):1171–9. PMCID: PMC4615304. (*co-corresponding author).
- Xiong XP, Vogler G, Kurthkoti K, Samsonova A, *Zhou R. SmD1 Modulates the miRNA Pathway Independently of Its Pre-mRNA Splicing Function. PLoS Genetics. 2015; 11(8):e1005475. PMCID: PMC4550278. (*corresponding author).
- Xiong XP, Kurthkoti K, Chang KY, Li JL, Ren XJ, Ni JQ, Rana TM, *Zhou R. miR-34 modulates innate immunity and ecdysone signaling in Drosophila. PLoS Pathogens. 2016; 12(11):e1006034. PMCID: PMC5125713. (*corresponding author).
- Xiong XP, Liang WH, Liu W, Tito A, Li JL, Xu SY, Situ J, Martinez D, Wu CL, Perera RJ, Zhang S, *Zhou R. The circular RNA Edis modulates innate immunity and neurodevelopment. PLoS Genetics. 2022; 18(10):e1010429. PMCID: PMC9612488. (*corresponding author).
- Liu W, Liang WH, Xiong XP, Li JL, *Zhou R. A Circular RNA Edis-Relish-Castor Axis Regulates Neuronal Development in Drosophila. PLoS Genetics. 2022; 18(10):e1010433. PMCID: PMC9612563. (*corresponding author).
- Liang WH, Liu W, Xiong XP, Li JW, Li JL, Perera, RJ, *Zhou R. The Circular RNA circATP8B(2) Regulates ROS Production and Antiviral Immunity in Drosophila. Cell Reports. 2024: 43(4):113973. PMCID: PMC11081091. (*corresponding author).
- Sheng J, ZhangXM, Liang WH, Lyu JF, Zhang B, Min J, Xu A, Xu XY, Li JW, Li JL, *Zhou R, *Liu W. The circular RNA circbabo(5,6,7,8S) regulates lipid metabolism and neuronal integrity via TGF-β/ROS/JNK/SREBP signaling axis in Drosophila. BMC Biology. 2025: 23(69). PMCID: PMC11881384. (*co-corresponding author).
