Biomedical subjects

Ze-Guang Han

Publications and source records attributed to Ze-Guang Han.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

ZBTB34, a novel human BTB/POZ zinc finger protein, is a potential transcriptional repressor.

BTB/POZ protein family plays a key role in many biological processes both in Drosophila and vertebrates through regulating the transcriptional activities of some downstream genes. Here, we obtained a novel member of human BTB/POZ protein family, named as ZBTB34 (Zinc finger and BTB domain containing 34), which encodes 504 amino acid residues with a BTB/POZ domain at its N-terminus that is similar to the same domain of other known transcription regulators. RT-PCR analysis indicated that ZBTB34 was expressed ubiquitously in most adult human tissues, and whilst immunofluorescence assays showed that ZBTB34 was mainly localized to nucleus. Interestingly, the reporter assay in mammalian cells suggested that ZBTB34 might function as a transcriptional repressor. This present work as the first report about the functional exploration of the novel ZBTB34 gene would be contributed to profound understanding of the transcriptional regulation via BTB/POZ protein family.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2006

Correlation between genomic DNA copy number alterations and transcriptional expression in hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common tumors worldwide, in which the genetic mechanisms of oncogenesis are still unclear. To investigate whether the genomic DNA copy number alterations may contribute to primary HCC, the cDNA microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis was here performed in 41 primary HCC infected by hepatitis B virus and 12 HCC cell lines. The resulting data showed that, on average, 7.25% of genome-wide DNA copy numbers was significantly altered in those samples (4.61+/-2.49% gained and 2.64+/-1.78% lost). Gains involving 1q, 6p, 8q and 9p were frequently observed in these cases; and whilst, losses involving Ip, 16q and 19p occurred in most patients. To address the correlation between the alteration of genomic DNA copy numbers and transcriptional expression, the same cDNA microarray was further applied in 20 HCC specimens and all available cell lines to figure out the gene expression profiles of those samples. Interestingly, the genomic DNA copy number alterations of most genes appeared not to be in generally parallel with the corresponding transcriptional expression. However, the transcriptional deregulation of a few genes, such as osteopontin (SPP1), transgelin 2 (TAGLN2) and PEG10, could be ascribed partially to their genomic aberrations, although the many alternative mechanisms could be involved in the deregulation of these genes. In general, this work would provide new insights into the genetic mechanisms in hepatocarcinogenesis associated with hepatitis B virus through the comprehensive survey on correlation between genomic DNA copy number alterations and transcriptional expression.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

New perspectives on host-parasite interplay by comparative transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of Schistosoma japonicum.

Schistosomiasis remains a serious public health problem with an estimated 200 million people infected in 76 countries. Here we isolated ~ 8,400 potential protein-encoding cDNA contigs from Schistosoma japonicum after sequencing circa 84,000 expressed sequence tags. In tandem, we undertook a high-throughput proteomics approach to characterize the protein expression profiles of a number of developmental stages (cercariae, hepatic schistosomula, female and male adults, eggs, and miracidia) and tissues at the host-parasite interface (eggshell and tegument) by interrogating the protein database deduced from the contigs. Comparative analysis of these transcriptomic and proteomic data, the latter including 3,260 proteins with putative identities, revealed differential expression of genes among the various developmental stages and sexes of S. japonicum and localization of putative secretory and membrane antigens, enzymes, and other gene products on the adult tegument and eggshell, many of which displayed genetic polymorphisms. Numerous S. japonicum genes exhibited high levels of identity with those of their mammalian hosts, whereas many others appeared to be conserved only across the genus Schistosoma or Phylum Platyhelminthes. These findings are expected to provide new insights into the pathophysiology of schistosomiasis and for the development of improved interventions for disease control and will facilitate a more fundamental understanding of schistosome biology, evolution, and the host-parasite interplay.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2006

Insights into human CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells through a systematically proteomic survey coupled with transcriptome.

Hematopoietic stem cells are capable of self-renewal and differentiation into different hematopoietic lineages. To gain a comprehensive understanding of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, a systematic proteomic survey of human CD34+ cells collected from human umbilical cord blood was performed, in which the proteins were separated by 1- and 2-DE, as well as by nano-LC, and subsequently identified by MS. A total of 370 distinct proteins identified from those cells provided new insights into the potential of the stem/progenitor cells because the nerve, gonad, and eye-associated proteins were reliably identified. Interestingly, the transcripts of 133 (35.9%) identified proteins were not found by the prevalent transcriptome approaches, although several selected transcripts could be detected by RT-PCR. Moreover, the heterogeneity of 33 proteins identified from 2-DE was attributable primarily to post-translational processes rather than to alternative splicing at transcriptional level. Furthermore, the biosyntheses of 15 proteins identified in this study appears not to be completely interrupted in spite of the fact that corresponding antisense RNAs were found in the existing transcriptome data. The integrated proteomic and transcriptomic analyses employed here provided a unique view of the human stem/progenitor cells.

Antigens, CD34↗

PubMed2006

Regulated production of mature insulin in rat hepatoma cells: insulin production is up-regulated by dexamethasone and down-regulated by insulin.

We engineered an artificial beta cell line that produces an up-regulation of insulin in response to dexamethasone, and a down-regulation in response to insulin. A regulatory secretion system was devised by placing proinsulin cDNA containing genetically engineered furin endoprotease cleavage sites and a regulatory promoter for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and an insulin expressing retrovirus vector (pN-PEPCK-mINS) was constructed and transfected into Hepa1-6 cells. The levels of insulin in culture medium and expression of insulin gene was estimated by radioimmunoassay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. The clone (Hepa1-6/INS21), which secreted the highest level of insulin (10.79 microIU/106 cells per day), was selected for the regulation experiment. Compared with the non-treated Hepa1-6/INS21 cells, insulin production was augmented 3.6-fold by the addition of 10-7 M of dexamethasone. Addition of exogenous insulin to the culture medium decreased insulin mRNA expression remarkably on RT-PCR results, while dexamethasone increased insulin gene expression at the transcriptional level. The data indicated that genetically engineered Hepa1-6 cells could synthesize process and secrete insulin in a physiological manner.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Elucidation of subfamily segregation and intramolecular coevolution of the olfactomedin-like proteins by comprehensive phylogenetic analysis and gene expression pattern assessment.

The categorization of genes by structural distinctions relevant to biological characteristics is very important for understanding of gene functions and predicting functional implications of uncharacterized genes. It was absolutely necessary to deploy an effective and efficient strategy to deal with the complexity of the large olfactomedin-like (OLF) gene family sharing sequence similarity but playing diversified roles in many important biological processes, as the simple highest-hit homology analysis gave incomprehensive results and led to inappropriate annotation for some uncharacterized OLF members. In light of evolutionary information that may facilitate the classification of the OLF family and proper association of novel OLF genes with characterized homologs, we performed phylogenetic analysis on all 116 OLF proteins currently available, including two novel members cloned by our group. The OLF family segregated into seven subfamilies and members with similar domain compositions or functional properties all fell into relevant subfamilies. Furthermore, our Northern blot analysis and previous studies revealed that the typical human OLF members in each subfamily exhibited tissue-specific expression patterns, which in turn supported the segregation of the OLF subfamilies with functional divergence. Interestingly, the phylogenetic tree topology for the OLF domains alone was almost identical with that of the full-length tree representing the unique phylogenetic feature of full-length OLF proteins and their particular domain compositions. Moreover, each of the major functional domains of OLF proteins kept the same phylogenetic feature in defining similar topology of the tree. It indicates that the OLF domain and the various domains in flanking non-OLF regions have coevolved and are likely to be functionally interdependent. Expanded by a plausible gene duplication and domain couplings scenario, the OLF family comprises seven evolutionarily and functionally distinct subfamilies, in which each member shares similar structural and functional characteristics including the composition of coevolved and interdependent domains. The phylogenetically classified and preliminarily assessed subfamily framework may greatly facilitate the studying on the OLF proteins. Furthermore, it also demonstrated a feasible and reliable strategy to categorize novel genes and predict the functional implications of uncharacterized proteins based on the comprehensive phylogenetic classification of the subfamilies and their relevance to preliminary functional characteristics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

cDNA microarray reveals signaling pathways involved in hormones expression of human pituitary.

Pituitary, a master gland of neuroendocrine system, secretes hormones that orchestrate many physiological processes, under the regulation of multiple signaling pathways. To investigate the genes involved in hormones expression of human pituitary, homemade cDNA microarray containing 14,800 human genes/ESTs were used to profile the gene expression in both fetal and adult pituitaries. Seven hundred and twelve known genes changed over 2-fold between the both tissues. Of which, 23 genes were changed with hormones expression in aging were confirmed by RT-PCR, not only the known regulators such as Pit1, GATA4, ESRRA, GABA-A, and EMK, but also LOC55884, DUSP3, PNN, and RCL, which had not been reported to be involved in the hormones expression. Correspondingly, the mRNAs of GH, PRL, POMC, TSH-beta, FSH-beta, and LH-beta, was increased as much as 6- to 20-fold in adult pituitary than those in fetal pituitary, by real-time quantitative RT-PCR assay. In addition, the mRNAs of signaling pathways, such as cAMP-PKA-CREB, PI3K-Akt, and PKA-ERK were further investigated. Of them, it was only cAMP-PKA-CREB pathway, but not PI3K-Akt and PKA-ERK have the same expressing pattern as hormones. It suggested that cDNA microarray is highly advantages to profile the differential expressed genes that were involved in hormones expression of human pituitary, but it might ignore some responding proteins regulated posttranscriptionally.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Nuclear localization signal of ING4 plays a key role in its binding to p53.

ING4, a novel member of ING family, is recently reported to interact with tumor suppressor p53 and negatively regulate the cell growth with significant G2/M arrest of cell cycle in HepG2 cells through upregulation of p53-inducible gene p21. However, which region of ING4 could have contributed to the binding to p53 remains largely unclear. Herein, the GST-pulldown experiments revealed that the middle region of ING4, a potential bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS), could be involved in the binding to p53. Furthermore, the interaction of ING4 to p53 was abrogated in vitro and in vivo when certain mutations or the entire deletion of the NLS domain occurred. More interestingly, the mutations of the NLS domain could alter the ING4 nuclear localization, disrupt the interaction of ING4 with p53, and even, deregulate the p53-inducible gene p21 in MCF-7 cells. All data indicated that the NLS domain of ING4 is essential for the binding of ING4 to p53 and the function of ING4 associated with p53.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Treatment of experimental hepatic fibrosis by combinational delivery of urokinase-type plasminogen activator and hepatocyte growth factor genes.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of combinational delivery of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) genes on hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: Replication-deficient adenoviral vectors expressing either human HGF (AdHGF) or uPA (AduPA) were generated. HGF gene was transferred into primary cultured hepatocytes and uPA gene to hepatic stellate cell (HSC) to investigate the effect on the biological character of cells. Combinational adenoviruses were infused into hepatic fibrosis rats. Serum markers as well as histological and immunohistochemical examination were carried out to test the reversal of hepatic fibrosis. RESULTS: Transfection of exogenous HGF gene induced expression of c-met/HGF receptor and stimulated hepatocyte proliferation. uPA gene delivered into HSC decreased the amount of collagen types I and III accompanied with the increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2. In vivo, the area of extracellular matrix in the fibrotic liver decreased to 72% in AdHGF-treated rats (P<0.01), 64% in the AduPA-treated group (P<0.01), and 51% in bi-genes transfection (P<0.01), compared with that of the controls. Moreover, immunohistochemical staining of collagen types I and III revealed that combinational genes delivery exerted more effect on reversal of hepatic fibrosis than mono-gene transfection. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that simultaneous delivery of two antifibrotic genes could confer synergistic effect on hepatic fibrosis.

Adenoviridae↗

PubMed2005

[Molecular cloning and characterization of hMGRAP, a human secreted protein with multiple glutamine repeat].

To search for human novel secreted proteins and study their biological functions, using bioinformatical tools and experimental approaches, a novel secreted protein, human hMGRAP (Human Multiple Glutamine Repeat Acidic Protein) was obtained. hMGRAP consists of six coding exons spanning 1547bp of genomic DNA on the human chromosome 7q22.1, which encodes a protein with 248 amino acids. hMGRAP is rich of glutamic acid repeated sequence and the PI is 4.6. The coding sequence of hMGRAP was cloned by PCR method from the cDNA pool composed of nine human tissues. Western blot showed that hMGRAP protein was massively secreted out from the transiently transfected Cos-7 cells. RT-PCR result indicated hMGRAP mRNA was abundantly expressed in testis. In summary, a novel human gene encoding a secreted protein hMGRAP has been screened and cloned, and its biological function may specifically relate to its repeated glutamic acid sequence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

N-glycosylation is required for efficient secretion of a novel human secreted glycoprotein, hPAP21.

The present study reported the isolation and characterization of a novel human secreted protein, named as hPAP21 (human protease-associated domain-containing protein, 21 kDa), encoded by the hypothetical gene chromosome 2 open reading frame 7 (C2orf7) that contains signal peptide in its N-terminus, without transmembrane domain, except for PA domain in its middle. Western blotting assay indicated that the c-Myc tagged hPAP21 could be secreted into culture medium in the transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells. However, the molecular weights, whatever intracellular (28 kDa) or extracellular (30 kDa) forms, are larger than that of the prediction. To define whether the glycosylation was important process for its secretion, endoglycosidase H (Endo H) and PNGase F (PNG F) were employed to evaluate the effect of glycosylation types on secretion of hPAP21. Interestingly, the extracellular forms were primarily sensitive to PNG F, not Endo H, implying that complex N-glycosylation could be required for the secretion of hPAP21. Furthermore, N-glycosylation of Asn171 was confirmed as potential crucial process for the secretory protein via site-directed mutagenesis assay. All data will be contributed to the understanding of molecular functions of hPAP21.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

hOLF44, a secreted glycoprotein with distinct expression pattern, belongs to an uncharacterized olfactomedin-like subfamily newly identified by phylogenetic analysis.

Secreted proteins are indispensable for the development and differentiation of multicellular organisms. Cloning and characterization of novel or hypothetical genes encoding these proteins are therefore inviting great incentives. Using bioinformatics tools and experimental approaches, we isolated and characterized a human secreted glycoprotein, hOLF44, which contains a highly conserved olfactomedin-like (OLF) domain in the C-terminal. However, phylogenetic analysis revealed that hOLF44 is not clustered into any of the OLF subfamilies containing characterized members, and obviously falls into a newly identified uncharacterized OLF subfamily. Western blot analysis showed that hOLF44 protein is robustly secreted from the transfected COS-7 cells. Expression levels of hOLF44 mRNA are abundant in placenta, moderate in liver and heart, whereas fairly weak in other tissues examined. Immunohistochemical study on human term placenta demonstrated that hOLF44 is mainly localized extracellularly surrounding the syncytiotrophoblastic cells and very rarely expressed in the maternal decidua layer. These results suggest that hOLF44 may have matrix-related function involved in human placental and embryonic development, or play a similar role in other physiological processes. The further functional characterization of hOLF44 may provide insights into a better understanding of the newly identified OLF subfamily.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

ING4 induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and enhances the chemosensitivity to DNA-damage agents in HepG2 cells.

The known members of inhibitor of growth (ING) gene family are considered as candidate tumor suppressor genes. ING4, a novel member of ING family, is recently reported to interact with tumor suppressor p53, p300 (a major component of histone acetyl transferase complexes), and p65(RelA) subunit of NF-kappaB. In this study, we investigated the cellular behaviors of HepG2 cells with exogenous ING4. Interestingly, the overexpression of ING4 negatively regulated the cell growth with significant G2/M arrest of cell cycle, and moreover, enhanced the cell apoptosis triggered by serum starvation in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, the exogenous ING4 could upregulate endogenous p21 and Bax in HepG2 cells, not in p53-deficient Saos-2 cells, suggesting that G2/M arrest induced by ING4 could be mediated by the increased p21 expression in a p53-dependent manner, although there is no significant increase of p53 expression in HepG2 cells. Moreover, HepG2 cells with exogenous ING4 could significantly increase cell death, as exposed to some DNA-damage agents, such as etoposide and doxorubicin, implying that ING4 could enhance chemosensitivity to certain DNA-damage agents in HepG2 cells.

Acetyltransferases↗

PubMed2004

Integrative annotation of 21,037 human genes validated by full-length cDNA clones.

The human genome sequence defines our inherent biological potential; the realization of the biology encoded therein requires knowledge of the function of each gene. Currently, our knowledge in this area is still limited. Several lines of investigation have been used to elucidate the structure and function of the genes in the human genome. Even so, gene prediction remains a difficult task, as the varieties of transcripts of a gene may vary to a great extent. We thus performed an exhaustive integrative characterization of 41,118 full-length cDNAs that capture the gene transcripts as complete functional cassettes, providing an unequivocal report of structural and functional diversity at the gene level. Our international collaboration has validated 21,037 human gene candidates by analysis of high-quality full-length cDNA clones through curation using unified criteria. This led to the identification of 5,155 new gene candidates. It also manifested the most reliable way to control the quality of the cDNA clones. We have developed a human gene database, called the H-Invitational Database (H-InvDB; http://www.h-invitational.jp/). It provides the following: integrative annotation of human genes, description of gene structures, details of novel alternative splicing isoforms, non-protein-coding RNAs, functional domains, subcellular localizations, metabolic pathways, predictions of protein three-dimensional structure, mapping of known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identification of polymorphic microsatellite repeats within human genes, and comparative results with mouse full-length cDNAs. The H-InvDB analysis has shown that up to 4% of the human genome sequence (National Center for Biotechnology Information build 34 assembly) may contain misassembled or missing regions. We found that 6.5% of the human gene candidates (1,377 loci) did not have a good protein-coding open reading frame, of which 296 loci are strong candidates for non-protein-coding RNA genes. In addition, among 72,027 uniquely mapped SNPs and insertions/deletions localized within human genes, 13,215 nonsynonymous SNPs, 315 nonsense SNPs, and 452 indels occurred in coding regions. Together with 25 polymorphic microsatellite repeats present in coding regions, they may alter protein structure, causing phenotypic effects or resulting in disease. The H-InvDB platform represents a substantial contribution to resources needed for the exploration of human biology and pathology.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2004

Schistosome transcriptomes: new insights into the parasite and schistosomiasis.

Schistosomiasis is one of the most serious parasitic diseases. More than 250 million people are infected with schistosomes in the tropics or subtropics. The parasitic flukes have some unique biological features: dioecism, complex life cycles, mechanisms to avoid host immune responses, and an apparent reliance on host endocrine and immune signals to complete their development, maturation and egg production. Recently, a large dataset of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma mansoni, from which numerous novel genes were identified. The transcriptome analyses provide the basis for a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in schistosome nutrition and metabolism, host-dependent development and maturation, immune evasion and invertebrate evolution. In addition, new potential vaccine candidates and drug targets have been predicted.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Schistosome transcriptome analysis at the cutting edge.

We live in the era of post-genomics, a term that was, until recently, inappropriate when considering the blood flukes of humans because of the relative lack of knowledge of the schistosome genome. The position has, however, changed dramatically following the recent publication of two landmark papers on transcriptome analysis of Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma mansoni. In a quantum leap, both studies report on the identification of many novel genes and genes not previously known from schistosomes. The datasets provide new insights into the biology of the schistosomes and offer an opportunity for identification of potential antischistosome vaccine candidates and drug targets. Remarkable recent progress has also been achieved in genomic sequencing, and completed genomes for both species can be expected shortly.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Identification of LZP gene from Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus coding for a novel liver-specific ZP domain-containing secretory protein.

Zona pellucida (ZP) domain has been recognized in a number of receptor-like eukaryotic glycoproteins, which involved in many important biological processes, such as signal transduction, development, differentiation and so on. Here we report the identification of Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus orthologues of Homo sapiens LZP gene which codes for a novel ZP domain-containing protein. Sequence analysis revealed that human, rat and mouse LZP proteins are highly conserved. Mouse LZP gene has two transcripts, 2.4 and 2.8 KB long respectively, coding for identical protein. Mouse LZP mRNA is expressed specifically in hepatocytes. Our data also showed that mouse LZP localizes mostly on nuclear envelope, and at the same time, it can be secreted into blood in a truncated form.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2003

Isolation and characterization of a novel human thioredoxin-like gene hTLP19 encoding a secretory protein.

A novel human gene, named as hTLP19, was isolated and characterized as secretory protein by combining bioinformatics tools with experiments. The hTLP19 encodes 172 amino acid residues with signal peptide in its N-terminal and a thioredoxin (Trx) domain that is homologous with some genes in Mus musculus, Xenopus laevis, etc. Moreover, the result from insulin reduction assay indicated that the hTLP19 protein has Trx enzymatic activity. By comparing full-length cDNA with human genomic DNA, the hTLP19 gene might have seven coding exons spanning 35 kb of genomic DNA on the human chromosome 1p32.3. Northern blot analysis showed that human hTLP19 is expressed widely in many tissues with 1.6 kb band and extra 1.2 kb band in placenta. Subcellular localization and immunoblotting assays indicated that hTLP19 might be secreted out of cell through trans-Golgi network (TGN).

Amino Acid Sequence↗