我们小组的工作主要是第二个分支的工作，研究人体细胞如何分化，iPS细胞如何被逆向分化，癌症干细胞和一般癌细胞的相互转化以及和癌症抗药性的关系。小组的PI Sui Huang 在应用动力系统吸引子来解释细胞分化做了开创性的工作。这个领域最早的推断细胞吸引子存在的实验论文投遍了生物杂志没人接受，最后在物理学杂志PRL上发表了。他也是最早提出细胞基因表达的涨落不仅仅是噪声，而直接与干细胞的更新和分化（stem cell renewing and differentiation)，细胞重定向(cell reprogramming），以及癌症干细胞转化有直接关系。最有趣的是，他阐发了Kauffman的癌症吸引子的观点，认为癌细胞是预先进化然后封存的“救生艇”程序，通常不会产生作用。当特定的基因发生变异后，这段程序引发癌细胞大量自我复制求生，却危及了宿主的生命。小组的部分论文见后。

我们欢迎对系统生物学和计算生物学感兴趣的访问学者和访问博士后来西雅图系统生物所来做学术交流。请联系 j周@systemsbiology.org （周换成拼音，请附上简历和论文列表和两封介绍信）。

小组介绍：

https://www.systemsbiology.org/sui-huang-group

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications (most relevant, recent and requested)

• Huang S, Eichler G, Bar-Yam Y, Ingber D. Cell fate as a high-dimensional attractor of a complex gene regulatory network. Phys. Rev. Lett.94:128701 (2005).

• Huang S, Guo YP, May G, Enver T. Bifurcation dynamics in lineage-commitment in bipotent progenitor cells. Dev. Biol. 305:695-713 (2007).

• Chang H, Hemberg M, Barahona B, Ingber D and Huang S. Transcriptome-wide noise controls lineage choice in mammalian progenitor cells. Nature，453:544-547 (2008).

• Huang S. Reprogramming cell fates: reconciling rarity with robustness. BioEssays. 31:546-60 (2009)

• Huang S. Non-genetic heterogeneity of cells in development: More than just noise. Development 136:3853-62 (2009).

• Huang S. Cell lineage determination in state space: a systems view brings flexibility to dogmatic canonical rules. PLoS Biol 8: e1000380. (2010)

• Zhou, JX and Huang S. "Understanding gene circuits at cell-fate branch points for rational cell reprogramming." Trends Genet Dec 10 (2010).

• Huang S. Systems biology of stem cells: three useful perspectives to help overcome the paradigm of linear pathways. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 366: 2247-2259 (2011).

2. Cancer

• Huang S and Ingber DE. Cell tension, matrix mechanics and cancer development. Cancer Cell 8:175-176 (2005)

• Huang S, Ingber DE. A non-genetic basis for cancer progression and metastasis: self-organizing attractors in cell regulatory networks. Breast Disease 26:27-54 (2006-2007)

• Panigrahy D, Kaipainen A, Huang S, Butterfield KE, Barnes CM, Fannon M, Laforme AM, Folkman J, Kieran MW. The PPARα agonist fenofibrate suppresses tumor growth through direct and indirect angiogenesis inhibition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105: 985-990 (2008).

• Brock A, Chang H, Huang S. Non-genetic heterogeneity - a mutation-independent driving force for the somatic evolution of tumours. Nat Rev Genet. 10: 336-42. (2009)

• Huang S, Ernberg I, Kauffman S. Cancer attractors: a systems view of tumors from a gene network dynamics and developmental perspective. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 20:869-876 (2009)

• Bracha AL, Ramanathan A, Huang S, Ingber DE, Schreiber SL. Carbon metabolism-mediated myogenic differentiation. Nat Chem Biol. 6:202-204 (2010)

• Huang, S. On the intrinsic inevitability of cancer: From foetal to fatal attraction.  Semin Cancer Biol21: 183-199 (2011).

3. Gene networks, Systems biology

• Huang S, Wikswo PJ. Five dimensions of systems biology. Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology 157: 81-104 (2006)

• Huang S. and Kauffman S. Gene Regulatory Networks - From Structure to Biological Observable: Cell fate Determination. Encyclopedia of Complexity, Springer (2009)

• Wang, J., Xu, L., Wang, E. K. & Huang, S. The "potential" landscape of genetic circuits imposes the arrow of time in stem cell differentiation.BiophysJ 99: 29-39 (2010).

• Guo, Y, Feng Y, Trivedi, NS, Huang S. Medusa structure of the gene regulatory network: dominance of transcription factors in cancer subtype classification. Exp Biol Med 236: 628-636 (2011).