Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab

Feburay 1 , 2013

Jianping Ye, Principal Investigator

YeJ@pbrc.edu

I am currently Professor of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. I was trained in immunology in the graduate school in Beijing, China, and in the post-doctoral stages at NCI/NIH and Johns Hopkins University. I joined the current institute as Associate Professor in 2001 and became Full Professor in 2006. Current efforts in my laboratory are focused on the impact of whole body energy homeostasis on insulin sensitivity. The study is conducted to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of type 2 diabetes. We are approaching the question using transgenic mice, bariatric surgery, and dietary supplement, with an ultimate goal to identify a drug target for improvement of insulin resistance. I serves on the editorial boards of “Diabetes”, “AJP-E&M”, and “International Journal of Obesity”, and the IPOD study section at NIH. Our study suggests that: (1) Obesity-associated inflammation is derived from adipose tissue hypoxia and is beneficial in the maintenance of energy balance; (2) Dietary fiber stimulates energy expenditure through production of sodium butyrate that inhibits histone deacetylase; (3) Herbal component berberine regulates energy metabolism through transient inhibition of mitochondrial function in the activation of AMPK and SIRT1; (4) Roux-en y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery improves insulin sensitivity through a negative energy balance. Details can be found in the publication list paper.  I have 117 peer-review publications with more than 7000 citations according to Google Scholar data on Dec 17, 2013.

Zhanguo Gao, Assistant Professor 

GaoZ@pbrc.edu

Zhanguo Gao came to the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab from NIDDK, NIH in 2001 as a Postdoctoral Researcher. He received his Ph.D. in China in 1999. He was promoted to Instructor in 2004 and Asssistant Professor in 2009. His research interests include signal transduction in inflammation and insulin resistance, nutrition and obesity, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease.  Now his studies are focused on epigenetic regulation of lipid metabolism & atherosclerosis. His current research is supported by ADA and COBRE.

Yong Zhang, Postdoctoral Researcher

Yong is a postdoctoral researcher in our lab. He joined the antioxidant and gene regulation lab in Feb, 2012. He received his MD (2005) and PhD (2010) from Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University. Before he came to USA, he worked as a postdoctor fellow in Fudan University. His major research is focused on mitochondrial function in obesity and diabetes.

Zhiyun Zhao , Ph.D. Student

Zhiyun is a visiting scholar in the lab. He joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab in Jane 2011. Originally from P. R. China, he received his M.D. from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2009 and is a PH.D candidate in Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. His major research is focused on the glycometabolism and mitochondrial function. He is researching the molecular mechanism of the anti-diabetic effect of the drug berberine which is a traditional herb in China.

Xin Ye, Research Associate

Xin.Ye@pbrc.edu

Zheng Hao, Research Associate

zheng.hao@pbrc.edu

Zheng Hao received his Master's degree of general surgery from Sun-Yet Sen University of Medical Sciences in 2005. Before he joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab in March 2011, he has been a general surgeon in China for 6 years. He is focused on  providing support in small animal surgery in research of insulin sensitivity, which includes establishment of hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp and mouse models of gastric bypass surgery.

Xiaoting Jiang, Research Associate

jiang.xiaoting@pbrc.edu

Katie Clark, Student Worker

kclar21@lsu.edu

Katie Clark joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab in December 2009. She is currently a student at LSU majoring in Kinesiology and minoring in Biological Sciences. Katie does a lot of the animal experiments including glucose and insulin tolerance tests, metabolic chamber, and the NMR.

Xiuqing WEI, Visiting Scholar

Xiuqing WEI is currently a Visiting Scholar in the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. He joined the Lab in Aug.2012 from SunYat-sen University, P.R. China. Before he came to the USA, he is a Ph.D. and works as an associate professor in the Division of Digestive Disease, the Third Affiliatted Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. His research focused on the role of the molecular and cellular mechanism of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity and colorectal carcinoma. 

Wei Guo, Visiting Scholar

Wei Guo is a Visiting Scholar in the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation lab. She came from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China, and joined the lab in June 2012. Before she came to U.S.A, she works as an associate professor in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her research is mainly focused on the molecular and cellular mechanisms related to inflammation, energy metabolism and atherosclerosis.

Lan Jiang, Visiting Scholar

Lan Jiang is a visiting scholar in the lab. She comes from Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and joined the lab in September, 2012. She is a PhD candidate of XTIPC and her research is mainly focused on the anti-diabetic mechanism of active ingredients from traditional Uyghur medicine.

Bilun Ke, Visiting Scholar

Bilun was an exchange Ph.D. studnet from the Sun Yat-Sen University, P.R. China. She joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab in Dec.2012. Before she came to the USA, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Division of Digestive Disease, the Third Affiliatted Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. Her research focused on the role of the mitochondrial function in obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

June 2006

Pictured from left to right:

Jianping Ye, Jun Yin, Zhanguo Gao, Gang Yu, Qing He, Carrie Elks, Jin-hua Yan, Wei Tseng, Xie Ye

Giang Jane Nguyen, Research Associate

Giang Jane Nguyen was a research associate in the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab for about one year.  She graduated from Tulane University with a Masters degree in Cell and Molecular biology in 2004.  We are proud of her for becoming a medical student at the California School of Podiatric and a medical doctor in the future.

Jong Han Lee,  Postdoctoral Researcher

Jong Han Lee has currently joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher.  He received his Ph.D. in  University of Manitoba in Canada in 2010.  During Ph.D course, He had investigated the prohibitin roles on ethanol treated pancreatic beta cells and studied about ethanol toxicity on insulin secretion pathways in both beta cells and islets. Currently, his research in the lab focuses on the roles of 11b-HSD1 in adipose tissue remodeling process under hypoxia condition which is common pathological condition frequently occurred among obese person.  In general, his study includes the molecular and cellular mechanisms related to inflammation and angiogenesis under hypoxia.

Jiaqiang Zhou, Visiting Scholar

Jiaqiang Zhou is a visiting scholar in Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab. He came from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University, China. He was a clinical professor before he joined the lab in March 2012. His research interest is mainly focused on the pathogenesis and prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Jun Dou, Visiting Scholar

Hongyun Lu , Visiting Scholar

Hongyun Lu is currently a Visiting Scholar in the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. She joined the Lab in Jan.2011 from SunYat-sen University, P.R. China. Before she came to the USA, she is a Ph.D. candidate and works as an associate professor in the Division of Endocronology & Metabolism, SunYat-sen University. Her Ph.D research focused on the role of insulin and Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the differentiation of primary cultured human preadipocytes. Her research interests include the molecular and cellular mechanism of type 2 diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, lipid metabolism & atherosclerosis. 

Tara M. Henagan, Postdoctoral Researcher

Tara M. Henagan is currently a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. She received her Bachelor of Science in 2004 from Louisiana State University and worked as a Research Associate in the Adipocyte Signaling Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center from 2004-2007. In 2007, Tara began to pursue her doctorate degree in Kinesiology. Her graduate research focus centered on exercise-induced anti-inflammatory effects through expression of the melanocortin 1 and 3 receptors on systemic macrophages. Tara graduated with her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 2010 with a major in Exercise Physiology and a minor in Pathobiological Sciences. Tara is currently researching changes in the insulin signaling pathway and adipose tissue inflammation. More specifically, Tara is investigating the changes in adipose tissue inflammation in mice lacking p65, a functional subunit of NF-kB that is known to regulate inflammation as well as insulin signaling. Additionally, she is investigating the hypoxia hypothesis of inflammation in response to high fat feeding and its effect on the insulin signaling pathway in the development of insulin resistance. Tara is interested in pursuing a research path that combines her interests in the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise with the role of inflammation in the development of insulin resistance and obesity.

Xuelei Xin,Visit Scholar

Xuelei was a visit scholar in the lab during 5-11, 2010; she came from the Xinjiang technical institute of Physics & Chemistry .CAS. She got her Ph.D. in 2008, and was promoted to a professor in 2009. Her major research interests include the extraction, isolation the activities from the traditional Uygur medicine and the cellular and molecular mechanism of them on anti-diabetes.  In the lab she studied botanicals in the regulation of insulin sensitivity by cell cultures, Western blotting, RT-PCR and reporter assays.

Huating Li , Ph.D. Student

Huating was an exchange Ph.D. studnet in the lab during 2009-2010. She joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab from the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, P.R. China. She was supported by the scholarship from Chinese education department. In the lab she worked with cell cultures, Western blotting, ELISA, Real time PCR, luciferase assay and ChIP assay. She studied gene regulation and pathophysiological significance of Fibroblast Growth Factor 21(FGF21) which is a hormone primarily secreted by liver and has recently been shown to possess beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and hepatic steatosis. She also involved in study of SIRT1 transgenic mice. She returned to China on November 2010 to finish her Ph.D.

Jun Yin , Postdoctoral Researcher

Jun was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab during 2005-2009. Jun joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab from Shanghai, P.R. China. During his posdoctoral training, he studied botanicals in the regulation of insulin sensitivity. He was involved in adipose tissue hypoxia study and mentoring students. He published several studies in his projects.

Fen Xu, Ph.D. Student

Fen was an exchange Ph.D. studnet in the lab during 2007-2009. She joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab from the Sun Yat-Sen University, P.R. China. She was supported by the schorlaship from Chinese education department. She did metabolic phenotyping study of SIRT1-KO mice. Her observation suggests that a reduction in SIRT1 activity in the heterozygous KO mice leads to a high risk of liver steatosis. The mice developed fatty liver eralier than the wild type littermates on mediate (25% calorie) and high (58% calorie) fat diet. The mice exhibited a low energy expenditure and higher fat content. The fatty liver was associated with inflammation in adipose tissue and liver. Fatty acid oxidation was examined in the liver by gene expression and hepatocyte culture. However, the data does not support a reduction in fatty acid oxidation in the SIRT1 mice. On low fat diet (chow, 12%), the phenotype was not observed.

Yanning Wang, Master Student

Yanning Wang was a master student during 2007-2009 in the division of human nutrition and food in the school of human ecology, LSU. Grown up in Zhenjiang city, Jiansu province, she received her M.D. degree in the Jiangsu University in 2005. Then, she was directly admitted into the Fudan University in Shanghai to study for a masters degree for two years. She joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab in Jan, 2007 before she received her masters degree. Her research interest focuses on the mechanism by which FFA induces insulin resistance. She was studying the relationship between FFA and inflammatory in obesity. In her spare time, Yanning loves traveling, shopping and listening music.

Tianyi Tang, Master Student

Tianyi Tang was a masters student in the lab during 2007-2009. She grew up in the Guangzhou City, P. R. China, received her M.D. at the Sun Yat-sen University in 2003. In the spring of 2007, Tianyi began her masters study in the School of Human Ecology in the Louisiana State University. Her study is focused on Nutrition and obesity. She did metabolic phenotyping of aP2-p65 mice. Her observation suggests that over expression of NF-kB p65 subunit in the adipocytes and macrophages leads to chronic inflammation in adipose tissue. Inflammatory cytokines were also elevated in the circulation. These are responsible for an increase in energy expenditure and a mild lipodystrophy in the mice. The energy expenditure protects the mice from dietary obesity and insulin resistance.

Can Pang, Ph.D. student

Can was a Ph.D. student in the lab during 2007-2008. Can Pang joined the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab in October 2006. Originally from Jiangsu province, P. R. China, she received her M.D. from Sun Yat-sen University in 2005. She studied agiogenesis in adipose tissue of obese mice. Her observation suggests that angiogenesis is impaired in the adipose tissue in obesity. Macrophage produces PDGF to stimulate angiogenesis in the tissue under obesity. She obstained her Ph.D. in endocrinology at the Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2008. She learned cell cultures, Western blotting, RT-PCR and tube formation assays in the lab.

Hanjie Zhang , Master Student

Hanjie was a master student in the lab during 2007-2008. Hanjie Zhang joined to the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab from Shanghai, China. She received her B.S. degree (2003) from the China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China and M.S. degree (2006) from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. Her previous research was mainly focused on the Chinese Herbal Medicine. She joined the lab in Jan. 2007. She transfered to Dr. Roy Martin's lab in 2008.

Carrie Elks, Graduate Assistant

Carrie was a student in the lab for few month in 2005. Carrie Elks came to the Antioxidant and Gene Regulation Lab as a graduate assistant at Louisiana State University to perform research for her Ph.D. dissertation.  Carrie received her B.S. from Louisiana State University with Upper Division Honors in Dietetics in 2001.  On May 19, 2006 she received her M.S. from Louisiana State University in Human Ecology with a concentration in Human Nutrition and Food.  Her lab duties included assisting the researchers, performing animal research, and taking care of the lab (cleaning, organizing, ordering).  Carrie's research interest is the effects of post-translational methylation on various proteins in the insulin signaling pathway, and how these effects may play a role in insulin resistance.  She left the lab on July 12, 2006 to join the LSU Veterinary School graduate program to do Nephrology research.