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Hua Su
Summary
Dr. Hua Su conducted his Ph.D. training at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Zhejiang University. The results of his Ph.D. work are described in two outstanding research papers focusing on autophagy initiation in Molecular Cell. During his postdoctoral training in Dr. Michael Karin's laboratory at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Su was able to fully explain how autophagy-deficient tumor survival and in doing so, discovered inhibition of either the initiation or the termination phases of autophagy results in activation of a different cancer cell survival and nutrient procurement pathway, macropinocytosis (MP). Importantly, he identified the mechanism through which autophagy-inhibited cancer cells turn on MP and showed it to depend on NRF2-mediated transcriptional activation. These results have been published in the journal Cancer Cell. Dr. Su also studied how cancer cell metabolism is affected by the extracellular matrix (ECM). He started by testing whether collagen 1 (Col I), the major ECM component, is a substrate for MP, but soon made the truly amazing discovery that the ratio of intact Col I fibers to Col I fragments generated by matrix metalloproteases is a key regulator of cancer cell metabolism. This applies not only to MP but also to mitochondrial biogenesis and bioenergetics. The relative amounts of cleaved vs. uncleaved Col I in the PDAC stroma have a huge impact on patient survival after surgical resection. This work is important because it provides a simple way for patient stratification and suggests that patients with high levels of cleaved Col I and DDR1 expression need more aggressive post-surgery treatments. These results have been published in the top journal Nature. In 2022, Dr. Su took the faculty position at Fudan University in Shanghai and established a research laboratory
focused on MP, tumor metabolism, and tumor microenvironment. Dr. Su is currently on the Editorial Board of Hepatoma Research Journal, a member of the Youth Work Committee of the Shanghai Immunological Society, a member of the Chinese Society of Cell Biology, and a member of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association. During his career, he has received many awards, including the National Scholarship (2007, 2015, 2016), Roche Education Award for Excellence in Research (2017), Shanghai Leading Talent Program (2022), National Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scientists (2022) and Shanghai Higher Education Talent Plan (2023).
Past or current institution affiliations
Welcome Notes
We are thrilled to welcome our new Editorial Board members to the Journal of Biomedical Research & Environmental Sciences. Your expertise and dedication to advancing scientific research are invaluable to our mission of delivering impactful and innovative studies to the global community.
Together, we look forward to shaping the future of science and fostering collaboration across disciplines. Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey. Welcome aboard!
Expertise
- Tumor microenvironment and metabolism
- Mechanism of macropinocytosis initiation and its role in tumor development
- Functions of collagen remodeling in tumor development and tumor immunity
- Tumorigenesis and tumor metabolism of desmoplastic cancer (PDAC, iCCA)
