Liang Tong

Liang Tong
Nationality	American
Citizenship	United States of America
Alma mater	Peking University BS in Chemistry (1983), University of California, Berkeley PhD (1989)
Scientific career
Fields	Biology
Institutions	Columbia University
Doctoral advisor	Kim Sung-Hou
Website	http://tonglab.biology.columbia.edu/

Liang Tong is the current chair of the Biological Sciences Department at Columbia University. His lab focuses on enzymes involved in fatty acid metabolism, including Acetyl-CoA carboxylase, carnitine acyltransferase, AMP-activated protein kinase, and others. These enzymes are important targets for drug discovery against obesity, diabetes and other human diseases. The goal of his research is to produce structural information on these enzymes and to understand their functions at the molecular level. The structural information will also lay the foundation for drug discovery against these targets.

Another area of his research is on proteins involved in pre-mRNA 3'-end processing. Most eukaryotic mRNA precursors must undergo cleavage and polyadenylation in their 3'-ends before they can function as mRNAs. This processing machinery contains more than 16 protein factors, which form several sub-complexes (CPSF, CSTF). The goal of his research is to understand the molecular basis of this important event.

Recent Academic Papers

• "Delineating the structural blueprint of the pre-mRNA 3'-end processing machinery". MCB. 34 (11): 1894–910. 2014. doi:10.1128/MCB.00084-14. PMID 24591651.
• "Structure of histone mRNA stem-loop, human stem-loop binding protein, and 3'hExo ternary complex". Science. 339 (6117): 318–21. 2013. doi:10.1126/science.1228705. PMC 3552377. PMID 23329046.