Jianli Dong

Professor and Director

biography

Dr. Jianli Dong received her medical degree from Guangzhou China and worked as an internal medicine physician for several years in Beijing. She then received her PhD from University of Toronto, Canada, followed by a research postdoc at Yale University and a clinical fellowship in molecular genetics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She worked as an Assistant Professor in the Pathology Department at Mount Sinai and Director of Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory in the New York Blood Center before joining UTMB in 2005. Currently she is serving as Professor and Director of Molecular Diagnostics in the Pathology Department.

 

Area of Interest

RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK and p16INK4A-CDK4/6-RB pathways in cancer biology; Research and development of molecular assays for clinical applications.


top publication

1. Dong, J.; Asa, S.L.; Drucker, D.J. Islet cell and extrapancreatic expression of the LIM domain homeobox gene isl-1. Mol. Endocrinol. 5: 1633-1641; 1991.
2. Dong, J.; Strome, R.; Hung, L.H.; Krause, H.M. A phosphorylation site in the Ftz homeodomain is required for activity. EMBO J. 17: 2308-2318; 1998.
3. Drean, B.S.; Nasiadka, A.; Dong, J.; Krause, H.M. Dynamic changes in the functions of odd-skipped during early Drosophila embryogenesis. Development. 125: 4851-4861; 1998.
4. Dong, J.; Krause, H.M. Tissue-specific requirements for a phosphorylation site in the Fushi tarazu homeodomain. Dev. Genes Evol. 209: 427-431; 1999.
5. Dong, J.; Gailani, M.R.; Pomeroy, S.L.; Reardon, D.; Bale, A.E. Identification of PATCHED mutations in medulloblastomas by direct sequencing. Hum Mutat. 16: 89-90; 2000.
6. Dong, J.; Katz, D.R.; Eng, C.M.; Kornreich, R.; Desnick, R.J. Non-radioactive detection of the common connexin 26 167delT and 35delG mutations and frequencies among Ashkenazi Jews. Mol. Genet Metab. 73: 160-163; 2001.
7. Edelmann, L.; Dong, J.; Desnick, R.J.; Kornreich, R. Carrier screening for mucolipidosis type IV in the American Ashkenazi Jewish population. Am J Hum Genet. 70: 1023-1027; 2002.
8. Dong, J.; Edelman, L.; Bajwa, A.M.; Kornreich, R.; Desnick, R.J. Familial dysautonomia: detection of the IKAPIVS20+6Tï‚®C and R696P mutations and frequencies among Ashkenazi Jews. Am J Med Genet. 110: 253-257; 2002.
9. Krasilnikov, M.; Ivanov, V.N.; Dong, J.; Ronai, Z. ERK and PI3K negatively regulate STAT-transcriptional activities in human melanoma cells: implications regarding sensitization of melanoma to apoptosis. Oncogene. 22: 4092-4101; 2003. PMID: 12821943.
10. Dong, J.; Phelps, R.G.; Qiao, R.; Yao, S.; Benard, O.; Ronai, Z.; Aaronson, S.A. BRAF oncogenic mutations correlate with progression rather than initiation of human melanoma. Cancer Res. 63: 3883-3885; 2003. PMID: 12873977.
11. Manfredi, J.J.; Dong, J.; Liu, W.J.; Resnick-Silverman, L.; Qiao, R.; Chahinian, P.; Saric, M.; Gibbs, A.R.; Phillips, J.I.; Murray, J.; Axten, C.W.; Nolan, R.P.; Aaronson, S.A. Evidence against a role for SV40 in human mesothelioma. Cancer Res. 65: 2602-2609; 2005. PMID: 15805256.
12. Rotolo, S.; Diotti, R.; Gordon, R.E.; Qiao, R.F.; Phelps, R.G.; Dong, J. Effects on proliferation and melanogenesis by inhibition of mutant BRAF and expression of wild-type INK4A in melanoma cells. Int J Cancer. 115: 164-169; 2005. PMID: 15657897.
13. Zhao, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Yang, Z.; Li, A.; Dong, J. Simultaneous knockdown of BRAF and expression of INK4A in melanoma cells leads to potent growth inhibition and apoptosis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 370: 509-513; 2008. PMID: 18402768.
14. Yang, Z.; Morrison, R.; Oates, C.; Sarria, J.; Patel, J.; Habibi, A.; Seyedjafari, R.; Hu, P.; Lennon, A.; Li, A.; Dong, J. HIV-1 Genotypic resistance testing on low viral load specimens using Abbott ViroSeq HIV-1 genotyping system. LabMedicine. 39: 671-672, 2008.
15. Estrada, Y.; Dong, J.; Ossowski, L. MAPK signaling pathways in uPA-dependent cell migration of melanoma cells. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 22: 66-76; 2009. PMID: 18983537.
16. Wang, Z.; Dong, J.; Eyzaguirre, E.J.; Tang, W.W.; Eltorky, M.A.; Qiu, S. Detection of human papilloma virus subtype 16 and P16 ink4a in invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the fallopian tube and concomitant squamous cell carcinoma in-situ of the cervix. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 35: 385-389; 2009. PMID: 19708185.
17. Murugan, A.K.; Dong, J.; Xie, J.; Xing, M. MEK1 mutations, but not ERK2 mutations, occur in melanomas and colon carcinomas, but none in thyroid carcinomas. Cell Cycle. 8: 2122–2124; 2009. PMID: 19411838.
18. Patel, J.A.; Anderson, E.; Dong, J. False positive ultrasensitive HIV-1 bDNA viral load results in diagnosis of perinatal HIV-1 infection in the era of low transmission. LabMedicine. 40: 611-614; 2009.
19. Li, J.; Xu, M.; Yang, Z.; Li, A.; Dong, J. Simultaneous inhibition of MEK and CDK4 leads to potent apoptosis in human melanoma cells. Cancer Invest. 28: 350-6; 2010. PMID: 19968499. (Citation Index 18, Journal Impact Factor 2.238, both accessed 3/3/2014).
20. Li, Z.; Sheng, T.; Wan, X.; Li, T.; Wu, H.; Dong, J. Expression of HERV-K correlates with status of MEK-ERK and p16INK4A-CDK4 pathways in melanoma cells. Cancer Invest. 28:1031-7; 2010. PMID: 20874005.
21. Clement, C.; Yang, Z.; Mayne, J.C.; Dong, J. HCV genotype and subtype distribution of patient samples tested at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. J Mol Genetics. 2: 36-40; 2010.
22. Xu, F.; Schwab, C.; Yang, X.; Weaver, S.; Li, A.; Sanborn, M.R.; Cloherty, G.A.; Dong, J. Low prevalence of non-subtype B HIV-1 strains in the Texas prisoner population. J Mol Genetics. 2: 41-44; 2010.
23. Schlosshauer, P.W.; Deligdisch, L.; Penault-Llorca, F.; Fatemi, D.; Qiao, R.; Hao, S.; Yang, Z.; Sheng, T.; Pearl, M.; Dong, J. Loss of p16INK4A expression in low grade ovarian serous carcinomas. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 30: 22-29; 2011. PMID: 21131838.
24. Murugan, A.K.; Dong, J.; Xing, M. Uncommon GNAQ, MMP8, AKT3, EGFR and PIK3R1 mutations in thyroid cancers. Endocr Pathol. 22: 97-102; 2011. PMID: 21487925.
25. Hou, P.; Liu, D.; Dong, J.; Xing, M. The BRAFV600E causes widespread alterations in gene methylation in the genome of melanoma cells. Cell Cycle. 11: 286-295; 2012. PMID: 22189819.
26. Fraase, K.; Hart, J.; Wu, H.; Ma, L.; Grant, F.; Li, A.; Lennon, A.; Hu, P.; Dong, J. BK virus as a potential co-factor for HPV in the development of cervical neoplasia. Ann Clin Lab Sci. 42 (2): 130-134; 2012. PMID: 22585607.
27. Gulhati, P.; Zaytseva, Y.; Valentino, J.D.; Stevens, P.D.; Kim, J.T.; Sasazuki, T.; Shirasawa, S.; Lee, E.Y.; Weiss, H.L.; Dong, J.; Gao, T.; Evers, B.M. Sorafenib enhances the therapeutic efficacy of rapamycin in colorectal cancers harboring oncogenic KRAS and PI3K3CA. Carcinogenesis 33 (9):1782-90, 2012. PMID: 22696593. (Citation Index 7, Journal Impact Factor 5.635, both accessed 3/3/2014).