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Zongwei Cai
Chair Professor
Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Member of The Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea, MAE), Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society (FCCS)
Organization:
College of Science
School of Chemistry
Post:
Associate Vice-President
Email:
zwcai@eitech.edu.cn
Research:

Environmental New Pollutants, Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, Environmental Toxicology, Food Safety, Human Health

团队新闻


蔡宗苇团队等 | 抑制癌细胞扩散,关键在减少这份“特殊材料”


香港中文大学教授于君/黄子隽团队和宁波东方理工大学讲席教授蔡宗苇合作研究掲示,支链氨基酸(BCAA)代谢通过尿苷单磷酸-波形蛋白(UMP-Vimentin)轴介导结直肠癌转移。


该研究首次提出转氨酶(BCAT1)和同工酶(BCAT2)的表达可预测肠癌病人的转移风险,其结果或将适用于不同类型的癌症。


日前,相关研究成果发表在《细胞代谢》(Cell Metabolism)。



肠癌转移过程是一个非常复杂的涉及代谢重编程的过程。研究人员通过代谢组学筛选发现,支链氨基酸代谢在肠癌细胞转移过程中发生了明显改变。他们进一步聚焦到支链氨基酸下游代谢酶,发现位于胞质的支链氨基酸转氨酶表达升高了,而位于线粒体内的同工酶表达却降低了。

BCAA胞质-线粒体分区代谢调控肠癌转移。课题组供图


研究团队通过医院临床样本队列分析,揭示了支链氨基酸胞质-线粒体代谢在癌症转移中的预测意义。他们在细胞和动物转移模型中验证了转氨酶的促转移和同工酶的抑转移功能。研究团队通过转氨酶和同工酶亚细胞定位的互换,发现支链氨基酸转氨酶的活性位置至关重要。最后,他们通过代谢组学和15N/13C同位素标记实验,解开了转氨酶促转移和同工酶抑转移的谜底:通过调节尿苷单磷酸水平,保护波形蛋白,使其免遭泛素化降解,驱动细胞迁移。


研究结果显示,直肠癌细胞在体内发生转移时,会依赖人们从食物中摄取的支链氨基酸,作为其获取迁移和侵袭能力的“特殊燃料”。因此,通过设计并实施精准的饮食方案,有目的地减少“特殊燃料”供应,将成为一种抑制癌细胞扩散的新策略。


研究者进一步发现,这一 “供能”通路中的核心环节,能被一种广泛用于治疗风湿性关节炎的药物——“来氟米特”精准阻断。这为对抗直肠癌转移,开辟了一条颇具吸引力的快速通道,即通过药物重定位策略,将一款现成的老药转化为狙击癌细胞扩散的“新武器”。此举将大大缩短从“实验室”到“病床”的距离,为晚期直肠癌病人的个体化治疗,提供新思路。


据悉,论文第一作者是香港中文大学博士后季芬芬,论文共同通讯作者为蔡宗苇、于君、黄子隽。


相关论文信息:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2026.01.007



BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Professor Zongwei Cai is the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis. His major research interests include the method development and applications of chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry for trace analysis of pollutants in environment, food, and biological matrices, with a focus on metabolomics, proteomics and mass spectrometry imaging research related to human health and diseases. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and a Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE). He was awarded the State Natural Science Award (Second Class), the First and Special Prize of China Association for Instrumental Analysis Award, and so on.

 

RESEARCH FIELD


  • Environmental New Pollutants

  • Analytical Chemistry

  • Environmental Chemistry

  • Mass Spectrometry

  • Environmental Toxicology

  • Food Safety

  • Human Health

 

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND


1982.9, Bachlor of Science in Chemistry from Xiamen University, China

1990.10, PhD in Analytical Chemistry from University of Marburg, Germany

 

WORK EXPERIENCE


2024- , Chair Professor, Eastern Insititute of Technology, Ningbo

2016-2024, Chair Professor in Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU)

2014-2024,  National-level Talent, Guangdong University of Technology, China

2013-2024, Director, State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, HKBU

2008-2018, Vice President, German Alumni Association of Hong Kong

2007-2011, Head, Department of Chemistry, HKBU

2003-2024, Director, Dioxin Analysis Laboratory, HKBU 

1997-2001, Investigator, Bioanalysis and Drug Metabolism, Glaxo-Wellcome Co., USA

1994-1996, Research Assistant Professor, Water Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

1991-1993, Post-doc Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

 

ACADEMIC PART-TIME JOBS (PARTIAL)

2013 –,Rapid Communication in Mass Spectrometry (Wiley),Editor 

2021 –,Environmental Science: Advances (RSC),co-Editor in Chief

2021 –,Environmental Chemistry (in Chinese), Associate Editor 

2023 –,National Science Review(Chemistry),Editorial Board Member 

2020 – 2023,The Innovation,Editorial Board Member

2023 –,The Innovation Life Science,Editorial Board Member 

 

AWARDS AND HONORS


2021, Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry

2021 and 2020, The World’s most highly cited researcher in Stanford University’s list of the world top 2% scientists

2020, Top 100,000 scientists in the World and top 10,000 scientists in China according to Google Scholar Metrics

2020, The World Power List of Analytical Scientists (https://theanalyticalscientist.com/power-list/2020)

2020, Special prize of Science and Technology Award, China Association for Instrumental Analysis (CAIA)

2018, The 2nd Prize of Science Research Achievement Award, Ministry of Education of China 

2018, Appointed Member of Food Safety Expert Committee, Hong Kong 

2016, The 1st prize of Science and Technology Award, China Association for Instrumental Analysis (CAIA)

2014, National-level Talent, Ministry of Education of China 

2013, Presidential Award for Scholarly Work, Hong Kong Baptist University

2011, The 2nd Prize of Nature Science Award of China

2003, Distinguished Young Scholar (Oversea), National Nature Science Foundation of China


General Information

Prof. Cai has published more than 800 papers as corresponding or co-corresponding author on SCI journals such as Nature Communications, Nature Protocols, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science(PNAS), The Innovation,and Science Bulletin with >25000 citations and H-index of 78(Scopus).


Scopus

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=7402904946 


Web of science (Clarivate)

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/ABD-4001-2020


10 Representative Works (* refers to the corresponding author):

1. Song, Y., Yang, Z.*, Z. Cai* et al, Phosphocholine-induced energy source shift alleviates mitochondrial dysfunction in lung cells caused by geo-specific PM2.5 components, PNAS, 2024, Vol. 121 No. 14, e2317574121.

2. Zhang J, Walker ME, Sanidad KZ, Zhang H, Liang Y, Zhao E, Chacon-Vargas K, Yeliseyev V, Parsonnet J, Haggerty TD, Cai Z*, Redinbo MR*, Zhang G*, Microbial enzymes induce colitis by reactivating triclosan in the mouse gastrointestinal tract, Nature communications, 2022, 13(1): 136.

3. Yang Z, Wu D, Lu S, Qiu Y, Hua Z, Tan F, Zhang C, Zhang L, Zhang D-Y, Zhou X*, Cai Z*, Shang Y*, Lin S-H*, Plasma Metabolome and Cytokine Profile Reveal Glycylproline Modulating Antibody Fading in Convalescent COVID-19 Patients, PNAS, 2022, 119(34): e2117089119.

4. Zhao C., Guo L., Dong J.*, Cai, Z.*, Mass spectrometry imaging-based multi-modal technique: Next-generation of biochemical analysis strategy, The Innovation, 2021, 2(4): 100151.

5. Zhao C, Xie PS, Yong T, Huang W, Liu JJ, Wu DS, Ji FF, Li M, Zhang DD, Li RJ, Dong C, Ma J, Dong Z, Liu SJ, Cai Z.*, Airborne fine particulate matter induces cognitive and emotional disorders in offspring mice exposed during pregnancy, Science Bulletin, 2021, 66(6): 578-591.

6. Luan HM, Zhao HZ, Li JF, Zhou YQ, Fang J, Liu HX, Li YY, Xia W, Xu SQ*, Cai Z.*, Machine learning for investigation on endocrine-disrupting chemicals with gestational age and delivery time in a longitudinal cohort, Research, 2021,2021: 9873135.

7. Zhao HZ, Li H, Zheng YY, Zhu L, Fang J, Xiang L, Xu SQ, Zhou YQ, Luan HM, Xia W*, Cai Z.*, Association of altered serum acylcarnitine levels in early pregnancy and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, Science China Chemistry, 2020, 63: 126-134.

8. Xiao, C., Li, K., Hua, J., He, Z., Zhang, F., Li, Q., Zhang, H., Yang, L., Pan, S., Z Cai*, ZL Yu, KB Wong, YJ Xia*, Arabidopsis DXO1 activates RNMT1 to methylate the mRNA guanosine cap., Nature Communications, 2023, 14(1): 202.

9. Zhang HL, Zhong H, Wang XF, Zhang SD, Shao XJ, Hu H, Yu ZL, Cai Z.*, Chen XM*, Xia YJ*, Use of NAD tagSeq II to identify growth phase-dependent alterations in E coli RNA NAD+ capping, PNAS, 2021, 118(14): e2026183118.

10. Shao XJ, Zhang HL, Yang Z, Zhong H, Xia YJ*, Cai Z.*, NAD tagSeq for transcriptome-wide identification and characterization of NAD+-capped RNAs, Nature Protocols, 2020, 15(9): 2813-2836.



更新时间:2026-03-26
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团队新闻


蔡宗苇团队等 | 抑制癌细胞扩散,关键在减少这份“特殊材料”


香港中文大学教授于君/黄子隽团队和宁波东方理工大学讲席教授蔡宗苇合作研究掲示,支链氨基酸(BCAA)代谢通过尿苷单磷酸-波形蛋白(UMP-Vimentin)轴介导结直肠癌转移。


该研究首次提出转氨酶(BCAT1)和同工酶(BCAT2)的表达可预测肠癌病人的转移风险,其结果或将适用于不同类型的癌症。


日前,相关研究成果发表在《细胞代谢》(Cell Metabolism)。



肠癌转移过程是一个非常复杂的涉及代谢重编程的过程。研究人员通过代谢组学筛选发现,支链氨基酸代谢在肠癌细胞转移过程中发生了明显改变。他们进一步聚焦到支链氨基酸下游代谢酶,发现位于胞质的支链氨基酸转氨酶表达升高了,而位于线粒体内的同工酶表达却降低了。

BCAA胞质-线粒体分区代谢调控肠癌转移。课题组供图


研究团队通过医院临床样本队列分析,揭示了支链氨基酸胞质-线粒体代谢在癌症转移中的预测意义。他们在细胞和动物转移模型中验证了转氨酶的促转移和同工酶的抑转移功能。研究团队通过转氨酶和同工酶亚细胞定位的互换,发现支链氨基酸转氨酶的活性位置至关重要。最后,他们通过代谢组学和15N/13C同位素标记实验,解开了转氨酶促转移和同工酶抑转移的谜底:通过调节尿苷单磷酸水平,保护波形蛋白,使其免遭泛素化降解,驱动细胞迁移。


研究结果显示,直肠癌细胞在体内发生转移时,会依赖人们从食物中摄取的支链氨基酸,作为其获取迁移和侵袭能力的“特殊燃料”。因此,通过设计并实施精准的饮食方案,有目的地减少“特殊燃料”供应,将成为一种抑制癌细胞扩散的新策略。


研究者进一步发现,这一 “供能”通路中的核心环节,能被一种广泛用于治疗风湿性关节炎的药物——“来氟米特”精准阻断。这为对抗直肠癌转移,开辟了一条颇具吸引力的快速通道,即通过药物重定位策略,将一款现成的老药转化为狙击癌细胞扩散的“新武器”。此举将大大缩短从“实验室”到“病床”的距离,为晚期直肠癌病人的个体化治疗,提供新思路。


据悉,论文第一作者是香港中文大学博士后季芬芬,论文共同通讯作者为蔡宗苇、于君、黄子隽。


相关论文信息:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2026.01.007