Mingqiang Ren

Ph.D.

Department of Primary Appointment:
School of Medicine
Military and Emergency Medicine
Title
Research Scientist
Location: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
Research Interests:
Genetics
Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics
Office Phone

Education

1984 Bachelor of Biology, Department of Animal Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China
1987 Master of biology, Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
1999 Ph.D of physiology and biochemistry, Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
2001 Postdoctoral fellow, Molecular Physiology, Research Institute for the Biology of Animals, Dummerstorf, Germany
2003 Postdoctoral fellow, Molecular Oncology, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Biography

Mingqiang Ren, Ph.D. is currently a Research Scientist in Department of Military and Emergency Medicine (MEM) at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). Previously, he is a research scientist in the Roswell Park Cancer Institute at Buffalo, NY, and a research assistant professor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Medical College of Georgia.

Dr. Ren has many years of experience and expertise in genomics sciences, bioinformatics, and mouse models. He is a translational scientist and his research mainly focused on blood diseases, including blood cancer and sick cell trait related disorders. He has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, such as Blood, Leukemia, and Cancer Research.

Dr. Ren has made a great contribution in molecular pathogenesis and targeted therapies of acute myeloid leukemia induced by FGFR1 translocations. He received the Translational Research Awards from Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, and RNA-seq Award from Illumina. Dr. Ren has been served for several committees in his previous university, such as in Flow Cytometry Core Facility and Integrated Genomics Core. He has been mentor of many PhD/Master students and medical students over last 15 years.

Mingqiang obtained his Ph. D degree of physiology and biochemistry from China, and his post-doctoral fellowship training in both the Research Institute for the Biology of Animals in Germany and the Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins University.

ACADEMIC EDUCATION

1984 Bachelor of Biology, Department of Animal Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China
1987 Master of Biology, Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
1999 Ph.D of Physiology and Biochemistry, Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
2001 Postdoctoral fellow, Molecular Physiology, Research Institute for the Biology of Animals, Dummerstorf, Germany
2003 Postdoctoral fellow, Molecular Oncology, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS

1987-1992 Instructor, Department of Physical Education, Huaibei Normal University, China.
1992-1995 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Huaibei Normal University, China.
2003-2009 Research Scientist, Department of Cancer Genetics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY.
2009-2012 Research Scientist, Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA
2012-2015 Assistant Professor of Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Member of Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA
2016-date Research Scientist, Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, Uniformed University of the Health Sciences. 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD

OTHER AWARDS

2013 RNA-seq Award. Illumina
2013 Translational Research Awards, Medical College of Georgia.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Active member, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Active member, the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)

PUBLICATIONS (Selected from over 50 peer-reviewed publications, * corresponding author)

1. Cowell JK, Qin H, Hu T, Wu Q, Bhole A, Ren M*. Mutation in the FGFR1 tyrosine kinase domain or inactivation of PTEN is associated with acquired resistance to FGFR inhibitors in FGFR1-driven leukemia/lymphomas. Int J Cancer. 2017 Nov 1;141(9):1822-1829
2. Hu T, Chong Y, Qin H, Kitamura E, Chang CS, Silva J, Ren M, and Cowell JK. The miR-17/92 cluster is involved in the molecular etiology of the SCLL syndrome driven by the BCR-FGFR1 chimeric kinase. 2017, Oncogene (accepted).
3. Sha S, Zhai Y, Lin C, Wang H, Chang Q, Song S, Ren M, Liu G. A combination of valproic acid sodium salt, CHIR99021, E-616452, tranylcypromine, and 3-Deazaneplanocin A causes stem cell-like characteristics in cancer cells. Oncotarget. 2017; 8(32):53302-53312
4. Hong M, Ren M, Silva J, Paul A, Wilson WD, etc. YM155 inhibits topoisomerase function. Anticancer Drugs. 2017, 28(2):142-152.
5. Rossetti S, Ren M, Visconti N, Corlazzoli F, Gagliostro V, Somenzi G, Yao J, Sun Y, Sacchi N. Tracing anti-cancer and cancer-promoting actions of all-trans retinoic acid in breast cancer to a RARα epigenetic mechanism of mammary epithelial cell fate. Oncotarget. 2016, 7(52):87064-87080.
6. Cowell JK, Qin H, Chang C-S, Kitamura, E. and Ren M*. A model of BCR-FGFR1 driven human AML in immunocompromised mice. British Journal of Haematology, 2016, 175(3):542-545.
7. Qin H, Sami Malek, Cowell JK, and Ren M*. Transformation of human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells with DEK-NUP214 induces AML in an immunocompromized mouse model. Oncogene, 2016, 27;35(43):5686-5691.
8. Qin H, Wu Q, Cowell JK, and Ren M*. FGFR1OP2-FGFR1 induced myeloid leukemia and T-cell lymphoma in a mouse model. Haematologica, 2016, 101(3).
9. Wu Q, Bhole A, Qin H, Karp J, Malek S, Cowell1 JK, and Ren M*. Targeting FGFR1 to suppress leukemogenesis in syndromic and de novo AML in murine models. Onotarget, 2016 2016 Aug 2;7(31):49733-49742.
10. Ren M*, Qin H, Wu Q, Savage NM, George TI, and Cowell JK. Development of ZMYM2-FGFR1 driven AML in human CD34+ cells in immunocompromised mice. Int J Cancer, 2016, 2016 Aug 15;139(4):836-40.
11. Zhou HM, Fang YY, Weinberger PM, Ding LL, Cowell JK, Hudson FZ, Ren M, Lee JR, Chen QK, Su H, Dynan WS, Lin Y. Transgelin increases metastatic potential of colorectal cancer cells in vivo and alters expression of genes involved in cell motility. BMC Cancer. 2016
12. Hong M, Ren M, Silva J, Kennedy T, Choi J, Cowell JK and Hao Z. Sepantronium is a DNA damaging agent that synergizes with PLK1 inhibitor volasertib. Am J Cancer Res 2014;4(2)
13. Ren M*, Qin H, Ren R, Cowell JK. Ponatinib suppresses the development ofmyeloid and lymphoid malignancies associated with FGFR1 abnormalities. Leukemia. 27(1):32-40, 2013.
14. Ren M*, Qin H, Kitamura E, Cowell JK. Disregulation of multiple signaling pathways in the development of myeloid and lymphoid malignancies associated with the CNTRL-FGFR1 fusion kinase in human and mouse models. Blood; 122(6):1007-16, 2013.
15. Ren M, Hong M, Liu G, Wang H, Patel V, Biddinger P, Silva J, Cowell JK and Hao Z.
Novel FGFR Inhibitor Ponatinib Suppresses Growth of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells Overexpressing FGFR1. Oncology Reports. 29(6):2181-90, 2013. (Top Ten most cited articles published in Oncology Reports in 2013).
16. Wang X, Choi JH, Ding J, Yang L, Ngoka LC, Lee EJ, Zha Y, Mao L, Jin B, Ren M, Cowell J, Huang S, Shi H, Cui H, Ding HF. HOXC9 directly regulates distinct sets of genes to coordinate diverse cellular processes during neuronal differentiation. BMC Genomics. 2013 Nov 25;14:830
17. Ren M, Tidwell J, Sharma S, and Cowell JK. Acute progression of BCR-FGFR1 induced murine B-lympho/myeloproliferative disorder suggests involvement of lineages at the pro-B cell stage. PLoS One. 7(6): e38265, 2012.
18. Mao L, Ding J, Perdue A, Yang L, Zha Y, Ren M, Huang S, Cui H, and Ding H-F. Cyclin E1 is a common target of BMI1 and MYCN and a prognostic marker for neuroblastoma progression. Oncogene, 2012 16;31(33):3785-95
19. McCarthy BA, Yang L, Ding J, Ren M, King W, Elsalanty M, Zakhary I, Sharawy M, Cui H, Ding HF. NF-kappaB2 mutation targets survival, proliferation and differentiation pathways in the pathogenesis of plasma cell tumors. BMC Cancer.12(1):203, 2012
20. Ren M*. Cowell JK. Constitutive Notch pathway activation in murine ZMYM2-FGFR1-induced T-cell lymphomas associated with atypical myeloproliferative disease. Blood. 117(25):6837-47. 2011.
21. Ren M*, Qin H, Ren R, Tidwell J, Cowell JK. Src activation plays an important role in lymphomagenesis induced by FGFR1-fusion kinases. Cancer Res. 71(23):7312-22, 2011
22. Rath P, Miller DC, Litofsky NS, Anthony DC, Feng Q, Franklin C, Pei L, Free A, Liu J, Ren M, Kirk MD, Shi H. Isolation and characterization of a population of stem-like progenitor cells from an atypical meningioma. Exp Mol Pathol. 90 (2): 179-188, 2011
23. Teng Y, Ren M, Cheney R, Sharma S, Cowell JK. Inactivation of the WASF3 gene in prostate cancer cells leads to suppression of tumorigenicity and metastases. Br J Cancer. 103(7):1066-75, 2010
24. Ren M., Li X., Cowell JK. Genetic fingerprinting of the development and progression of T-cell lymphoma in a murine model of atypical myeloproliferative disorder initiated by the ZNF198-FGFR1 chimeric tyrosine kinase. Blood. 114(8):1576-84. 2009.
25. Corlazzoli F., Rossetti S., Bistulfi G., Ren M. and SacchiN. Derangement of a factor upstream of RARα triggers the repression of a pleiotropic epigenetic network. PLoS ONE. 4(1):e4305, 2009
26. Safina A., Ren M, VanDette, E. and Bakin AV. TAK1 is required for TGFbeta-mediated regulation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and metastasis. Oncogene. 27(9):1198-207, 2008
27. Bistulfi G., Pozzi, S., Ren, M, Rossetti S. and Sacchi N. A repressive epigenetic domino effect confers susceptibility to breast epithelial cell transformation: implications for predicting breast cancer risk. Cancer Res. 66(21):10308-14, 2006.
28. Ren, M, Pozzi, S., Bistulfi G., Somenzi G., Rossetti S. and Sacchi N. Impaired RA-signal Leads to RAR2 Epigenetic Silencing and RA-resistance. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25(23):10591-10603. 2005.
29. Wang X, Qian DZ, Ren M., Kato Y., Wei Y., Zhang L., Fansler Z., Clark D., Nakanishi O., Pili, R. Epigenetic Modulation of Retinoic Acid Receptor 2 by the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor MS-275 in Human Renal Cell Carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 11(9):3535-42. 2005
30. Qian DZ, Ren M., Wei Y, Wang X, van de Geijn F, Rasmussen C, Nakanishi O, Sacchi N, Pili R. In vivo imaging of retinoic acid receptor beta2 transcriptional activation by the histone deacetylase inhibitor MS-275 in retinoid-resistant prostate cancer cells. Prostate. (64): 20-8. 2005
31. Ren M*, Reilly RT, Sacchi N. Sasa health exerts a protective effect on Her2/NeuN mammary tumorigenesis. Anticancer Res. 24(5A):2879-84. 2004.
32. Sirchia SM, Ren M. (co-first author), Pili R, Sironi E, Somenzi G, Ghidoni R, Toma S, Nicolo G, Sacchi N. Endogenous reactivation of the RARbeta2 tumor suppressor gene epigenetically silenced in breast cancer. Cancer Res. 62(9):2455-61. 2002.

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

Cowell JK, Qin H, Hu T, Wu Q, Bhole A, Ren M. Mutation in the FGFR1 tyrosine kinase domain or inactivation of PTEN is associated with acquired resistance to FGFR inhibitors in FGFR1-driven leukemia/lymphomas. Int J Cancer. 2017 Nov 1;141(9):1822-1829

Cowell JK, Qin H, Chang C-S, Kitamura, E. and Ren M. A model of BCR-FGFR1 driven human AML in immunocompromised mice. British Journal of Haematology, 2016, 175(3):542-545.

Qin H, Sami Malek, Cowell JK, and Ren M. Transformation of human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells with DEK-NUP214 induces AML in an immunocompromized mouse model. Oncogene, 2016, 27;35(43):5686-5691

Qin H, Wu Q, Cowell JK, and Ren M. FGFR1OP2-FGFR1 induced myeloid leukemia and T-cell lymphoma in a mouse model. Haematologica, 2016, 101(3).

Wu Q, Bhole A, Qin H, Karp J, Malek S, Cowell1 JK, and Ren M*. Targeting FGFR1 to suppress leukemogenesis in syndromic and de novo AML in murine models. Onotarget, 2016 2016 Aug 2;7(31):49733-49742.

Ren M, Qin H, Wu Q, Savage NM, George TI, and Cowell JK. Development of ZMYM2-FGFR1 driven AML in human CD34+ cells in immunocompromised mice. Int J Cancer, 2016, 2016 Aug 15;139(4):836-40.

Ren M, Qin H, Ren R, Cowell JK. Ponatinib suppresses the development ofmyeloid and lymphoid malignancies associated with FGFR1 abnormalities. Leukemia. 27(1):32-40, 2013.

Ren M, Qin H, Kitamura E, Cowell JK. Disregulation of multiple signaling pathways in the development of myeloid and lymphoid malignancies associated with the CNTRL-FGFR1 fusion kinase in human and mouse models. Blood; 122(6):1007-16, 2013.

Ren M. Cowell JK. Constitutive Notch pathway activation in murine ZMYM2-FGFR1-induced T-cell lymphomas associated with atypical myeloproliferative disease. Blood. 117(25):6837-47. 2011.

Ren M., Li X., Cowell JK. Genetic fingerprinting of the development and progression of T-cell lymphoma in a murine model of atypical myeloproliferative disorder initiated by the ZNF198-FGFR1 chimeric tyrosine kinase. Blood. 114(8):1576-84. 2009.