Anjana Rao
安贾纳·饶
PhD
Distinguished Professor; Program Co-Director, Epigenetics and Immunity特聘教授；表观遗传学与免疫学项目联合主任
👥Biography 个人简介
Anjana Rao is a pioneer in discovering TET dioxygenases and their role in oxidizing 5-methylcytosine to produce 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and drive active DNA demethylation. Her work has profoundly shaped understanding of how TET loss promotes cancer and how epigenetic reprogramming governs T cell function in tumors.
🧪Research Fields 研究领域
🎓Key Contributions 主要贡献
Discovery of TET Enzyme Biochemistry
Demonstrated that TET1, TET2, and TET3 dioxygenases convert 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine, and 5-carboxylcytosine, establishing the active DNA demethylation pathway in mammals.
TET2 as a Tumor Suppressor
Characterized TET2 loss-of-function mutations in myeloid malignancies, demonstrating that reduced 5hmC and aberrant DNA hypermethylation at enhancers drive hematopoietic transformation and clonal expansion.
Epigenetic Regulation of T Cell Exhaustion in Cancer
Defined TET-mediated demethylation as a critical regulator of T cell effector and exhaustion programs, showing how epigenetic reprogramming of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes can be targeted to enhance immunotherapy.
Representative Works 代表性著作
Conversion of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in mammalian DNA by MLL partner TET1
Science (2009)
Landmark study demonstrating TET1 enzymatic activity and discovery of 5hmC as a stable modified base in mammalian DNA.
TET2 promotes histone O-GlcNAcylation during gene transcription
Nature (2017)
Revealed that TET2 scaffolds OGT to chromatin to promote H3S10 GlcNAcylation, linking DNA demethylation to histone modification crosstalk.
The role of TET enzymes in cancer and immunity
Nature Reviews Cancer (2021)
Comprehensive review articulating how TET enzyme dysregulation drives hematologic and solid cancers and impairs anti-tumor immune responses.
🏆Awards & Recognition 奖项与荣誉
📄Data Sources 数据来源
Last updated: 2026-01-15 | All information from publicly available academic sources
Related Experts 相关专家
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Massachusetts General Hospital / Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Bing Ren
University of California San Diego, Ludwig Cancer Research
Cigall Kadoch
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Luciano Di Croce
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona
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