Biologist, was born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province on December11, 1953. He graduated from Shengyang College of Pharmacy with a B. S. in 1981 and a M. S. in 1984, gained the doctoral degree of Biochemistry & Biophysics in University of North Carolina in USA in 1991, after receiving his Ph.D. degree, he continued his postdoctoral research in Duke University. He took the Yong Scientists Group Leader position, co-sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences and German max-Plank Society in 1995.He became a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999, a fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World in 2001, the President of Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in May 2000, the President of Tongji University in August 2007.

His research was mainly focus on the transduction of cell signaling. The current research work contains three facets: Cross-talk between cellular signaling pathways; Epigenetic modification mediated by signal transduction; G-protein Coupling Receptor (GPCR) signaling and the disease mechanisms. Drug discovery by targeting cell signal network node proteins. Professor Pei has correspondence-authored more than one hundred scientific research papers in prestigious peer-reviewed journals, including 1 in Nature, 4 in Cell, 4 in Nat  Immunol．, 1 in Nat Med.

Novel Physiological and Pathological Roles of -arrestins

Abstract

The classical paradigm of -arrestin function is to bind to the activated G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and to mediate their desensitization and internalization. Identification of numerous -arrestin binding partners leads to the view that -arrestins tune the diverse pathways by scaffolding different complexes. The studies by Pei's group demonstrate that by forming various signal complexes with p38 MAPK, Mdm2, I B , Traf6, p300, Akt, Src, IR and etc, -arrestins link the activated receptors to distinct sets of accessory and effecter proteins and determine the specificity, efficiency, and capacity of signals. These studies implicate a direct physiological relevance of -arrestins in the pathophysiology of numerous diseases, including inflammation, autoimmuno-disorders, cancer, neurodegeneration, and diabetes, presenting -arrestin-containing signalsomes as novel potential therapeutic targets for these diseases.