Prof. Zong-Bin Cui and Prof. Yong-Hua Sun from Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, invited by Prof. De-Sheng Pei, visited CIGIT and gave presentations for academic exchange on May 19, 2015. Prof. Cui gave a lecture, entitled “The construction of animal models for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)”. NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disorder, caused by abnormal lipid metabolisms. Prof. Cui demonstrated that deprivation of Slc7a3a leads to hepatic steatosis in fasted zebrafish as a result of defects in arginine-dependent nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. He also found that NO-AMPK-PPAR-α–signaling pathway is crucial for controlling hepatic FAO in knockdown of Slc7a3 in mice and SLC7A3 in human liver cells. Prof. Yong-Hua Sun presented a lecture, entitled “The development of zebrafish research in China and China Zebrafish Resource Center (CZRC)”. He introduced the development of CZRC, the resources at CZRC, and Gene Knockout Project (GKP) on chromosome 1 in zebrafish. He also prospectively reviewed on the research fields of zebrafish in China and in the world, and shared his new discoveries of the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway. Prof. Cui and Prof. Sun had an in-depth discussion with staffs on some interesting and academic topics at the end of meeting.

     Prof. Cui received a first class Natural Science Award as the third contributor from CAS in 1996 and a third class State Natural Science Award in 1997. He won a second class Young Scientist Award from CAS and a Special Scholarship from the president of CAS in 1997.  Between April of 1999 and March of 2002, he worked at the University of Minnesota in USA on fish developmental and molecular biology and obtained an International and United States Patent. Between March of 2002 and December of 2005, he worked in the medical center of University of Michigan on the mechanisms of normal repair and fibrosis after injury of tissues and organs. In January of 2006, he was supported by the "Hundred Talent Program" from CAS to set up a new research group in IHB.

     Prof. Sun is the director of China Zebrafish Resource Center (CZRC), the winner of Lu Jiaxi Young Talent Prize at CAS, the first winner of the National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation, and the member of Youth Innovation Promotion Association at CAS. Currently, he presided over the National Basic Research Program (973 Program), the national 863 project, the Outstanding Youth Science Foundation etc. His recent works have been published in many famous peer-viewed journals, such as Nature Communications、Journal of Biological Chemistry、Biology of Reproduction、Journal of Physiology、PLoS Genetics、Cell Research、Marine Biotechnology、Transgenic Research、Science China etc.