Chen Cai

Chen Cai, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Surgery

Divisions: Urology

Academic Office Information

chen.cai@hsc.utah.edu

Chen Cai, PhD, is developing an independent research program on how cells retain and lose memories of past environmental stress, bringing together RNA biology, yeast genetics, and mammalian models. Her research asks whether an RNA conformation, supported by RNA-binding proteins and cellular assemblies, can guide newly made RNA toward the same functional state. Such renewal could allow information to persist as molecules are replaced and cells divide. Understanding how these states are sustained and reset may ultimately shed light on persistent cellular dysfunction in cancer and neurodegenerative disease and inform strategies for reversing harmful cellular states.
Dr. Cai earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Utah. Her previous research included contributions to studies that generated yeast with a single linear chromosome and, subsequently, a single circular chromosome. She also contributed to identifying conserved age-associated changes in sperm small RNAs in mice and humans. Her broader work explores how RNA composition and molecular interactions influence the transmission of paternal information to offspring. At Abcam, she led a team developing standardized ChIP-seq and CUT&RUN workflows.

Education History

Doctoral Training Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
 PhD
Undergraduate Shandong Normal University
 BS

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Rawal HC, Yu J, Zhang X, Cai C, Chen Q, Zhou T (2026). qMAP decodes RNA fragmentation dynamics in development and disease. Mol Syst Biol, 22(10), 1626-1649.
  2. Shi J, Zhang X, Cai C, Liu S, Yu J, James ER, Liu L, Emery BR, McMurray Bires MR, Torres-Arce E, Rawal HC, Ramsay J, Kunisaki J, Zhou C, Milstone DS, Patti ME, Yang X, Jenkins TG, Quinlan A, Cairns BR, Schimmel P, Hotaling JM, Aston KI, Zhou T, Chen Q (2026). Conserved shifts in sperm small non-coding RNA profiles during mouse and human aging. EMBO J, 45(4), 1362-1380.
  3. Cai C, Yu J, Zhang X, Zhou T, Chen Q (2025). A model for propagation of RNA structural memory through biomolecular condensates. Nat Cell Biol, 27(9), 1381-1386.
  4. Liu Y, He S, Pyo K, Franklin R, Maaz IB, Cai C, Shah K, Cheloufi S, Marzluff WF, Murn J (2025). Reversible proliferative arrest induced by rapid depletion of RNase MRP. Nat Commun, 16(1), 5342.
  5. Yu J, Zhang X, Cai C, Zhou T, Chen Q (2025). Small RNA and Toll-like receptor interactions: origins and disease mechanisms. Trends Biochem Sci, 50(5), 385-401.
  6. Cai C, Chen Q (2024). Father's diet influences son's metabolic health through sperm RNA. Nature, 630(8017), 571-573.
  7. Cai C, Sun H, Hu L, Fan Z (2021). Visualization of integrin molecules by fluorescence imaging and techniques. Biocell, 45(2), 229-257.
  8. Wu ZJ, Liu JC, Man X, Gu X, Li TY, Cai C, He MH, Shao Y, Lu N, Xue X, Qin Z, Zhou JQ (2020). Cdc13 is predominant over Stn1 and Ten1 in preventing chromosome end fusions. Elife, 9, e53144.
  9. Shao Y, Lu N, Cai C, Zhou F, Wang S, Zhao Z, Zhao G, Zhou JQ, Xue X, Qin Z (2018). A single circular chromosome yeast. Cell Res, 29(1), 87-89.
  10. Shao Y, Lu N, Wu Z, Cai C, Wang S, Zhang LL, Zhou F, Xiao S, Liu L, Zeng X, Zheng H, Yang C, Zhao Z, Zhao G, Zhou JQ, Xue X, Qin Z (2018). Creating a functional single-chromosome yeast. Nature, 560(7718), 331-335.
  11. Zhou Z, Liu YT, Ma L, Gong T, Hu YN, Li HT, Cai C, Zhang LL, Wei G, Zhou JQ (2017). Independent manipulation of histone H3 modifications in individual nucleosomes reveals the contributions of sister histones to transcription. Elife, 6, e30178.
  12. Fu XH, Duan YM, Liu YT, Cai C, Meng FL, Zhou JQ (2014). Telomere recombination preferentially occurs at short telomeres in telomerase-null type II survivors. PLoS One, 9(3), e90644.