Research Areas:

Metabolic remodeling is a hallmark of malignancy, which can be exploited to diagnose, monitor, and treat cancer. Leveraging single-cell multiomics, human cancer organoids and genetically engineered lineage tracing mouse models, we investigate how metabolic remodeling regulates tumor cell fate determination and tumor microenvironment.

Main research directions:

(1) From endogenous hormone metabolism angle, we investigate which specific hormones, and how these hormones, modulate tumor advancement and immune response, and to further uncover the interplay between cancer biology, immunology and endocrinology.

(2) From exogenous nutrient metabolism angle, we study the role of nutrition in cancer pathogenesis and cancer therapy particularly focusing on tumor microenvironment, and to further establish the linkage between dietary interventions and precision medicine.

Brief Biography:

2025 - Present: Professor, Principal Investigator, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, CAS, Shanghai, China

2021 - 2024: Postdoctoral Fellow/Associate Professor, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, CAS, Shanghai, China

2016-2021: Ph.D., Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, CAS, Shanghai, China

2012-2016: B.S., Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi, China

Selected Publications: (*Corresponding Author)

1. Li F^#, Dai PF^#, Shi HL^#, Zhang YJ^#, He J, Gopalan A, Li D, Chen Y, Du YR, Xu GL, Yang WW*, Liang C*, Gao D*. LKB1 inactivation promotes epigenetic remodeling-induced lineage plasticity and antiandrogen resistance in prostate cancer. Cell Research 2025 In press.
2. Li F^#, Xing XD^#, Jin QQ^#, Wang XM^#, Dai PF^#, Han M^#, Shi HL, Zhang Z, Shao XL, Peng YY, Zhu YQ, Xu JY, Li D, Chen Y, Wu W, Wang Q, Yu C*, Chen L*, Bai F*, Gao D*. Sex differences orchestrated by androgens at single-cell resolution. Nature 2024 May;629(8010):193-200.
3. Li X^#, Li F^#, Ye F^#, Guo HT, Chen WT, Jin J, Wang YR, Dai PF, Shi HL, Tao HR, Dang WZ, Ding YL, Wang MC, Jiang HL, Chen KX, Zhang NX, Gao D*, Zhang YY*, Luo C*. Spermine Is a Natural Suppressor of AR Signaling in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Cell Reports 2023 Jul 25;42(7):112798.
4. Han M^#, Li F^#*, Zhang YH^#, Dai PF, He J, Li YG, Zhu YQ, Zheng JK, Huang H, Bai F, Gao D*. FOXA2 drives lineage plasticity and Kit pathway activation in neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Cancer Cell 2022 Nov 14;40(11):1306-1323.
5. Peng JY^#, Li F^#, Wang J, Wang CX, Jiang YA, He J, Yuan K, Bei JX, Wang V, Zhou B, Chen LN, Gao D*, Zhao Y*. Identification of a rare Gli1+ progenitor cell population contributing to liver regeneration during chronic injury. Cell Discovery 2022 Nov 1;8(1):118.
6. Li F^#, Han M^#, Dai PF^#, Xu W^#, He J^#, Tao XT^#, Wu Y^#, Tong XY, Xia XY, Guo WX, Zhou YJ, Li YG, Zhu YQ, Zhang XY, Liu Z, Aji R, Cai X, Li YT, Qu D, Chen Y, Jiang SB, Wang Q, Ji HB, Xie YH*, Sun YH*, Lu L*, Gao D*. Distinct mechanisms for TMPRSS2 expression explain organ-specific inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection by enzalutamide. Nature Communications 2021 Feb 8;12(1):866.
7. Li F^#, Yuan QY^#, Di W^#, Xia XY^#, Liu Z, Mao NH, Li L, Li CF, He J, Li YG, Guo WX, Zhang XY, Zhu YQ, Aji R, Wang SQ, Chi P, Carver B, Wang Y*, Chen Y*, Gao D*. ERG orchestrates chromatin interactions to drive prostate cell fate reprogramming. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2020 Nov 2;130(11):5924-5941.
8. Tang J^#, Wang HX^#, Huang XZ^#, Li F^#, Zhu H, Li Y, He LJ, Zhang H, Pu WJ, Liu K, Zhao H, Bentzon JF, Yu Y, Ji Y, Nie Y, Zhang L*, Gao D*, Zhou B*. Sca1+ Vascular Stem Cells Contribute to Smooth Muscle for Artery Repair and Regeneration. Cell Stem Cell 2020 Jan 2;26(1):81-96.