Trending News: By Reporter Zhou Linzi, Photographer Wu Yushen, and Correspondent Chen Jingjing.

At 23:00(Beijing time) on June 7, an important achievement on fibroblast growth factors of Oujiang Laboratory was officially published in the top international academic journal Nature. "Our scientists conducted independent research and found the 'last puzzle' of FGF (fibroblast growth factor) intracellular signalling, which allows us to understand 'how life is passed through generations'." said Li Xiaokun, Academician of China Academy of Engineering and chief scientist of Oujiang Laboratory.

The team of senior PI Moosa Mohammadi and research fellow Chen Gaozhi of Oujiang Laboratory, together with the team of chief scientist Li Xiaokun, achieved this major research breakthrough. This not only broke the inherent understanding of FGF signaling activation mechanism in the scientific community over the past 30 years, but also marks a major scientific breakthrough and milestone in the field of life science and disease treatment for Oujiang Laboratory.

FGF endocrine subfamily members are hormones that regulate bile acid, lipid, glucose, vitamin D and mineral ion homeostasis, that could help treat many diseases, including type II diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and chronic kidney diseases.

 “In the past, our understanding of FGF was limited to its ability to regulate endocrine, while the method of regulation remains unknown. In order to open this lock, we have been looking for the key.” Li Xiaokun told us that it was not until 2018 that the team discovered the interaction features of the endocrine FGF-FGFR-Klotho ternary complex and found the key. However, the keys alone are not enough, the lack of unlocking methods still hinder the follow-up research and pharmaceutical development. "This time, the molecular machine assembly and signal activation model of FGF23, FGFR, Klotho and HS quaternary complex were fully displayed for the first time in the world, and the way to open the lock with this key was discovered for real." 

Moosa Mohammadi shared a vivid metaphor: if one compares human metabolism to a lamp, then the switches controlling metabolism come in various forms, such as mechanical or voice control. FGF represents one of the switching models. This study found the working principle of FGF in regulating metabolism for the first time, providing a way to turn on, turn off or repair this "lamp" in the future. This gives new and important structural information for drug research and development of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and chronic kidney diseases. 

Oujiang Laboratory is one of the ten provincial laboratories in Zhejiang Province, focusing on the key areas of tissue and organ regeneration and remodeling, eye disease and visual function rehabilitation, brain diseases and cognitive function rehabilitation, and making efforts towards major scientific breakthrough. Since its establishment two years ago, it has published more than 600 articles in international academic journals, and 249 of them have an IF greater than 10. At the same time, a large number of research outcomes are moving towards commercialization: Prof. Song Weihong's team successfully developed a method to diagnose early Alzheimer's disease with merely "one drop of blood" by looking for biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity; Prof. Chen Jiangfan's team has developed new food that influences emotional cognition by affecting intestinal functions and providing feedback to the brain, and used it to treat Parkinson's disease; Prof. Andrei Tkatchenko's team discovered a new mechanism of myopia origin through transcriptome data, which provided a basis for guiding the development of myopia drug and treatment, among others.  

"We focus on the two major areas: talent attraction and platform construction, and strive to make Wenzhou a hot spot for global life science experts." said Prof. Song Wehong, Director of Oujiang Lab, fellow of Canadian Academy of Health and Sciences. At present, Oujiang Laboratory has set up 43 scientific research teams through global recruitment, including 9 academy members and over 420 talents. Take Moosa Mohammadi, an important contributor to this R&D achievement, as an example. He has been focusing on the research on the structure, molecular signal and functions of FGF for a long time and is widely recognized as one of the most authoritative global experts in this field. In the next step, Oujiang Laboratory will invest RMB6.8 billion in five years to build major medical science facilities and technology platforms, such as translational medicine research bases and biomedicine super-computing center, and build a sustainable development and innovation ecological chain of "applied basic research-technology breakthroughs- tranlational application", and strive to build itself into a world-class innovation platform for regeneration control and eye and brain health.

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