Biography

Dr. Jia received his Ph.D degree at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018, where he was awarded  Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) President’s Fellowship. He was funded by CAS joint training program for doctoral students in 2016 to study at Purdue University. Then he continued as a post-doctoral research fellow at Purdue University from July 2018 to September 2021. Dr. Zhihao Jia joined Soochow University as a Principal Investigator (Associate Professor) and started his own lab in November 2021. Dr. Jia’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of protein arginine methylation in skeletal muscle energy metabolism during exercise and aging, as well as the metabolic crosstalk between skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Nature Communications, Diabetologia, Advanced Science, eLife, Cell Reports, Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, and iMeta, with over 2000 citations.

Research Interests

My lab focuses on the molecular mechanism on how protein arginine methylation regulates skeletal muscle and adipose metabolism and its involvement in metabolic syndromes, especially during the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes. Our long-term goal is to discover new targets and develop new therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndromes.

Selected Publications

1. Huang Z…Zhang Y*, Jia Z* (2025) Unlocking Metabolic Flexibility: The Role of PRMT3 in Post-Translational Adaptation to Feeding. Nature communications, Accepted.

2. Liu X… Jia Z* (2025) Myostatin Exhibits an Evolutionarily Conserved Circadian Pattern in Skeletal Muscles. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle 6 (6), e70130

3. Shi S… Jia Z*, Mei Z*, Song T* (2025) Polygonati Rhizoma Prevents Glucocorticoid‐Induced Growth Inhibition of Muscle via Promoting Muscle Angiogenesis Through Deoxycholic Acid. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle 16 (3), e13853

4. Liu C… Jia Z*, Sun X* (2025) Metformin administration protects deltoid tendon damage through activation of Notch signaling. iMeta 4 (5), e70074

5. Ge X… Jia Z*, Xu Y* (2025) Extracellular matrix in skeletal muscle injury and atrophy: Mechanisms and therapeutic implications. Journal of Orthopaedic Translation 52, 404-418

6. Jin Y… Jia Z*, Xu Y* (2025) From Injury to Integrity: Tissue Engineering Solutions in Combined Bone Repair and Regeneration and Muscle Repair. Burns & Trauma tkaf052

7. Zhang C…Jia Z*, Zhang Y* (2025) Acetate Administration Ameliorates Streptozotocin-Induced Hyperglycemia and Adipose Tissue Loss. The FASEB Journal 39 (14), e70855

8. Li Y…Jia Z*, Guo B* (2025) Ketone Bodies in Exercise, Health and Disease: Metabolic Mechanisms, Pathophysiology, and Therapeutic Implications. Advanced Exercise and Health Science 2 (2), 83-93

9. Chen X^#, Jia Z^#,*… Kuang S* (2025) Multiomics analyses reveal that PRMT5 regulates membrane transport and cholesterol synthesis in white adipocytes. iMetaOmics e70055

10. Moazzami Z… Jia Z*, Crawford PA*, Ruan H* (2025) Ketone body driven lipid remodeling supports thermogenic adaptation to fasting. bioRxiv, 2025.06. 13.659540

11 .Zhu Y … Jia Z*, Song T* (2024) The Critical Role of Lipid Metabolism in Health and Diseases. Nutrients 16 (24), 4414

12. Zhang C… Jia Z*, Zhang Y* (2024) Akkermansia muciniphila administration ameliorates streptozotocin‐induced hyperglycemia and muscle atrophy by promoting IGF2 secretion from mouse intestine. iMeta 3 (5), e237

13. Tang J… Jia Z*, Feng Y* (2024) FADD regulates adipose inflammation, adipogenesis, and adipocyte survival. Cell Death Discovery 10 (1), 323

14. Shu H… Jia Z*, Liu Z* (2023) The Role of Proton-Coupled Amino Acid Transporter 2 (SLC36A2) in Cold-Induced Thermogenesis of Mice. Nutrients 15 (16), 3552

15. Ma Z…Jia Z* (2023) Hepatic Acat2 overexpression promotes systemic cholesterol metabolism and adipose lipid metabolism. Diabetologia 66 (2), 390-405

16. Jia Z*…Kuang S* (2022) ACSS3 in brown fat drives propionate catabolism and its deficiency leads to autophagy and systemic metabolic dysfunction. Clinical and Translational Medicine 12 (2), e665

17. Jia Z…Kuang S* (2020) Protein Arginine Methyltransferase PRMT5 Regulates Fatty Acid Metabolism and Lipid Droplet Biogenesis in White Adipose Tissues. Advanced Science 7 (23): 2002602

18. Jia Z…Kuang S* (2019) A requirement of Polo-like kinase 1 in murine embryonic myogenesis and adult muscle regeneration. eLife 8: e47097

Current Post-Graduate students’ Mentorship:

Qian CHEN, Kaige GAO, Zaifei Yin