Dr. KHAITOVICH Philippwas Max Planck Group Leader at PICB, Shanghai, China from 2006 to 2012. From 2012 to 2017, he was professor, director at CAS-MPG partner institute for computational biology, CAS,China. He is Max Planck Society Fellow at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany from 2013. He joined ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China as Professor from 2013. He is professor at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology,Moscow,Russia from 2014. From 2017 he is professor at CAS-MPG partner institute for computational biology, CAS, China.

We are interested to know how exactly our species came to exist. Human evolution has resulted in a species that possesses an apparently unique set of phenotypic capabilities. Newly evolved human-specific features may also represent vulnerable points in otherwise well buffered functional networks, resulting in uniquely human disease susceptibilities. 

Human brain: organization, evolution, and function

We search for molecular features specific to humans, through integrative analysis of genetic, transcriptomic and metabolomic data measured in modern and archaic humans, humans affected by cognitive disorders, as well as closely related mammalian species: chimpanzees, macaques and mice. Following this approach, we have identified several molecular mechanisms that potentially underlie the evolution of the human phenotype and identified changes in brain organization accompanying cognitive development, as well as functional decline in ageing and common cognitive disorders.

The research conducted is built on a combination of the following resources and instruments:

·        Collection of unique human and non-human primate brain samples.

·        Use of novel high-throughput data generation methods, including high-throughput sequencing and high precision mass spectrometry to generate comprehensive datasets covering gene structure (splicing) and activity (expression), as well as cellular and organismal physiology estimated using concentrations of thousands of biochemical markers: metabolites and lipids.

·        Use of novel analytical tools and algorithms to analyze data and intergrade heterogeneous data types.

·        Use of classical laboratory approaches, including microscopy and immunohistochemistry, as well as cell culture and organism-level experiments, to verified specific results obtained by the analysis of large datasets.

We use various combinations of these resources and instruments to get insights into complex biological problems, with the main focus on:

·        Evolution of cognitive abilities unique to humans or particularly advances in humans.

·        Metabolic and structural organization of the human brain, its evolution and variability across human populations.   

·        Molecular features of natural and artificial selections in animals and humans.

 1. Li, Q., K. Bozek, C. Xu, Y. Guo, J. Sun, S. Paabo, C. C. Sherwood, P. R. Hof, J. J. Ely, Y. Li, L. Willmitzer, P. Giavalisco* andP. Khaitovich*."Changes in Lipidome Composition During Brain Development in Humans, Chimpanzees, and Macaque Monkeys."Mol Biol Evol34, no. 5 (2017): 1155-1166.

2. He, Z., D. Han, O. Efimova, P. Guijarro, Q. Yu, A. Oleksiak, S. Jiang, K. Anokhin, B. Velichkovsky, S. Grunewald andP. Khaitovich*."Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis of Neocortical Layers in Humans, Chimpanzees and Macaques."Nat Neurosci20, no. 6 (2017): 886-895.

3. Liu, X., D. Han, M. Somel, X. Jiang, H. Hu, P. Guijarro, N. Zhang, A. Mitchell, T. Halene, J. J. Ely, C. C. Sherwood, P. R. Hof, Z. Qiu, S. Paabo*, S. Akbarian* andP. Khaitovich*."Disruption of an Evolutionarily Novel Synaptic Expression Pattern in Autism."PLoS Biol14, no. 9 (2016): e1002558.

4. Wei, Y. N., H. Y. Hu, G. C. Xie, N. Fu, Z. B. Ning, R. Zeng* andP. Khaitovich*."Transcript and Protein Expression Decoupling Reveals Rna Binding Proteins and Mirnas as Potential Modulators of Human Aging."Genome Biol16, (2015): 41.

5. Bozek, K., Y. Wei, Z. Yan, X. Liu, J. Xiong, M. Sugimoto, M. Tomita, S. Paabo, C. C. Sherwood, P. R. Hof, J. J. Ely, Y. Li, D. Steinhauser, L. Willmitzer, P. Giavalisco* andP. Khaitovich*."Organization and Evolution of Brain Lipidome Revealed by Large-Scale Analysis of Human, Chimpanzee, Macaque, and Mouse Tissues."Neuron85, no. 4 (2015): 695-702.

6. Khrameeva, E. E., K. Bozek, L. He, Z. Yan, X. Jiang, Y. Wei, K. Tang, M. S. Gelfand, K. Prufer, J. Kelso, S. Paabo, P. Giavalisco*, M. Lachmann* andP. Khaitovich*."Neanderthal Ancestry Drives Evolution of Lipid Catabolism in Contemporary Europeans."Nat Commun5, (2014): 3584.

7. Bozek, K., Y. Wei, Z. Yan, X. Liu, J. Xiong, M. Sugimoto, M. Tomita, S. Paabo, R. Pieszek, C. C. Sherwood, P. R. Hof, J. J. Ely, D. Steinhauser, L. Willmitzer, J. Bangsbo, O. Hansson, J. Call*, P. Giavalisco* andP. Khaitovich*."Exceptional Evolutionary Divergence of Human Muscle and Brain Metabolomes Parallels Human Cognitive and Physical Uniqueness."PLoS Biol12, no. 5 (2014): e1001871.

8. Mazin, P., J. Xiong, X. Liu, Z. Yan, X. Zhang, M. Li, L. He, M. Somel, Y. Yuan, Y. P. Phoebe Chen, N. Li, Y. Hu, N. Fu, Z. Ning, R. Zeng, H. Yang, W. Chen, M. Gelfand* andP. Khaitovich*."Widespread Splicing Changes in Human Brain Development and Aging."Mol Syst Biol9, (2013): 633.

9. Liu, X., M. Somel, L. Tang, Z. Yan, X. Jiang, S. Guo, Y. Yuan, L. He, A. Oleksiak, Y. Zhang, N. Li, Y. Hu, W. Chen, Z. Qiu*, S. Paabo* andP. Khaitovich*."Extension of Cortical Synaptic Development Distinguishes Humans from Chimpanzees and Macaques."Genome Res22, no. 4 (2012): 611-22.

10.Khaitovich, P.,I. Hellmann, W. Enard, K. Nowick, M. Leinweber, H. Franz, G. Weiss, M. Lachmann and S. Paabo*. "Parallel Patterns of Evolution in the Genomes and Transcriptomes of Humans and Chimpanzees."Science309, no. 5742 (2005): 1850-4.