Hui Ren

Dr. Hui Ren


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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25 May 2021 in Cells
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
GWGregory Watson
Gregory Watson
DLDaniel Lester
Daniel Lester
HRHui Ren
Hui Ren
CFConnor Forsyth
Connor Forsyth
EMElliot Medina
Elliot Medina
ELEric Lau
Eric Lau
Alterations in genes encoding for proteins that control fucosylation are known to play causative roles in several developmental disorders, such as Dowling-Degos disease 2 and congenital disorder of glycosylation type IIc (CDGIIc). Recent studies have provided evidence that changes in fucosylation can contribute to the development and progression of several different types of cancers. It is therefore important to gain a detailed understanding of how fucosylation is altered in disease states so that interventions may be developed for therapeutic purposes. In this report, we find that fucosylation occurs on many intracellular proteins. This is an interesting finding, as the fucosylation machinery is restricted to the secretory pathway and is thought to predominately affect cell-membrane-bound and secreted proteins. We find that Ribosomal protein S3 (RPS3) is fucosylated in normal tissues and in cancer cells, and that the extent of its fucosylation appears to respond to stress, including MAPK inhibitors, suggesting a new role in posttranslational protein function. Our data identify a new ribosome-independent species of fucosylated RPS3 that interacts with proteins involved in posttranscriptional regulation of RNA, such as Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U (HNRNPU), as well as with a predominance of non-coding RNAs. These data highlight a novel role for RPS3, which, given previously reported oncogenic roles for RPS3, might represent functions that are perturbed in pathologies such as cancer. Together, our findings suggest a previously unrecognized role for fucosylation in directly influencing intracellular protein functions.