Education

1993, B.Sc., Nanchang University;

2001, Ph.D., Xiamen University.

Professional Experience

1993-1996, Assistant, Jiangxi Medical College;

2001-2003, Assistant Professor, Xiamen University;

2006-2008, Research Scholar, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA;

2003-2010, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University;

2010-Present, Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University.

Research Area

Tumor metastasis involves dissemination of cancer cells to distant organ sites and their subsequent adaptation to and remodeling foreign tissue microenvironments. We have discovered that matricellular proteins (Periostin, OPN, etc) contribute to cell survival, EMT, stemness maintenance and angiogenesis during tumor metastasis. Our current work demonstrated that matricellular proteins play a critical role in remodeling tissue microenvironments during inflammation and tumor progression. We will continue to investigate the functions of matricellular proteins in stem cell niches and in inflammatory and metastatic microenvironments.

Selected Publications

1. Fan C, Lin Y, Mao Y, Huang Z, Liu AY, Ma H, Yu D, Maitikabili A, Xiao H, Zhang C, Liu F, Luo Q,Ouyang G. MicroRNA-543 suppresses colorectal cancer growth and metastasis by targeting KRAS, MTA1 and HMGA2. Oncotarget. 2016 Mar 8. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.7989.

2. Li Y, Wu S, Xiong S,Ouyang G*. Deficiency of periostin protects mice against methionine-choline-deficient diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.J Hepatol, 62: 495-497, 2015. (*Corresponding author).

3. Huang Y, Liu W, Xiao H, Maitikabili A, Lin Q, Wu T, Huang Z, Liu F, Luo Q,Ouyang G*. Matricellular protein periostin contributes to hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Am J Pathol, 185: 786-797, 2015.

4. Wu T, Luo Q*,Ouyang G*. Periostin: a potent chemotactic factor for recruiting tumor-associated macrophage.Protein Cell, 6: 235-237, 2015.

5. Lin Y, Liu AY, Fan C, Zheng H, Li Y, Zhang C, Wu S, Yu D, Huang Z, Liu F, Luo Q, Yang CJ,Ouyang G*. MicroRNA-33b inhibits breast cancer metastasis by targeting HMGA2, SALL4 and Twist1. Sci Rep, 5: 9995, 2015.

6. Qiu H, Fang X, Luo Q*, Ouyang G*. Cancer stem cells: a potential target for cancer therapy.Cell Mol Life Sci, DOI: 10.1007/s00018-015-1920-4, 2015.

7. Wu T, Wu S,Ouyang G*. Periostin: a new extracellular regulator of obesity-induced hepatosteatosis.Cell Metab, 20: 562-564, 2014.

8. Liu AY, Zheng H,Ouyang G*. Periostin, a multifunctional matricellular protein in inflammatory and tumor microenvironments.Matrix Biol, 37: 150-156, 2014.

9. Conway SJ, Izuhara K, Kudo Y, Litvin J, Markwald R,Ouyang G, Arron JR, Holweg CT, Kudo A*. The role of periostin in tissue remodeling across health and disease.Cell Mol Life Sci, 71: 1279-1288, 2014. (All authors contributed equally).

10. Wu T,Ouyang G*. Matricellular proteins: multifaceted extracellular regulators in tumor dormancy.Protein Cell, 5: 249-252, 2014.

11. Liu AY, Cai Y, Mao Y, Lin Y, Zheng H, Wu T, Huang Y, Fang X, Lin S, Feng Q, Huang Z, Yang T, Luo Q*,Ouyang G*. Twist2 promotes self-renewal of liver cancer stem-like cells by regulating CD24.Carcinogenesis, 35: 537-545, 2014.

12. Wang X, Liu J, Wang Z, Huang Y, Liu W, Zhu X, Cai Y, Fang X, Lin S, Yuan L,Ouyang G*. Periostin contributes to the acquisition of multipotent stem cell-like properties in human mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells.PLoS One, 8: e72962, 2013.

13. Liu AY,Ouyang G*. Tumor angiogenesis: glioblastoma stem cells as a new source of pericytes.Curr Biol, 23: R565-R568, 2013.

14. Wang Z,Ouyang G*. Periostin: a bridge between cancer stem cells and their metastatic niche.Cell Stem Cell, 10: 111-112, 2012.

15. Fang X, Cai Y, Liu J, Wang Z, Wu Q, Zhang Z, Yang CJ, Yuan L,Ouyang G*. Twist2 contributes to breast cancer progression by promoting an epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem-like cell self-renewal.Oncogene, 30: 4707-4720, 2011.

16. Ruan K, Bao S,Ouyang G*. The multifaceted role of periostin in tumorigenesis.Cell Mol Life Sci, 66: 2219-2230, 2009.

17. Song G^#,Ouyang G^#, Mao Y, Ming Y, Bao S, Hu T. Osteopontin promotes gastric cancer metastasis by augmenting cell survival and invasion through Akt-mediated HIF-1a up-regulation and MMP9 activation.J Cell Mol Med, 13: 1706-1718, 2009. (#These authors contributed equally to this work).

18.Ouyang G*, Liu M, Ruan K, Song G, Mao Y, Bao S. Upregulated expression of periostin by hypoxia in non-small-cell lung cancer cells promotes cell survival via the Akt/PKB pathway.Cancer Lett, 281: 213-219, 2009.

19. Song G, Cai QF, Mao YB, Ming YL, Bao SD,Ouyang GL*. Osteopontin promotes ovarian cancer progression and cell survival and increases HIF-1α expression through PI3-K/Akt pathway.Cancer Sci, 99: 1901-1907, 2008.

20. Bao S,Ouyang G, Bai X, Huang Z, Ma C, Liu M, Shao R, Anderson RM, Rich JN, Wang XF*. Periostin potently promotes metastatic growth of colon cancer by augmenting cell survival via the Akt/PKB pathway.Cancer Cell, 5: 329-339, 2004.