Yunfeng Zhao, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology & Neuroscience
Ph.D., 1997, Microbiology, Jilin University, China
Postdoctoral, Dept. of Toxicology, University of Kentucky

Major Research Interests:
Oxidative stress, antioxidants in cancer prevention and treatment

Oxidative stress describes a physiological disorder when the balance of prooxidants overweighs antioxidants. Oxidative stress has been implicated to play an important role in the development of various diseases including cancer. A marker of oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species (ROS), can modulate the activity of protein kinases, which, in turn, phosphorylate several redox sensitive oncogene and tumor suppressor gene products. It has been found that in a variety of cancers that the levels of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), a primary enzyme against mitochondrial superoxide, are lower compared with appropriate controls. Not surprisingly, application of antioxidants that elevates MnSOD expression or treatment with SOD mimetics suppresses tumorigenesis both in vitro and in vivo.

The research of this laboratory will use cell models and mouse models to explore further the complicated role of oxidative stress in tumorigenesis leading to a better design for the application of antioxidants in cancer prevention/treatment. There are be several related projects on going, which include: to investigate a novel approach for cancer prevention in mouse skin carcinogenesis studies: induction of SOD by none-toxic traditional oriental medicine; to study the role of tumor suppressor pTEN in tumorigenesis in both mouse models and cell lines; and to find oxidative stress-related mediators of cell proliferation and cell death pathways in cell culture models.

Selected Recent Publications:
Zhao Y , Russ M, Retter M, Fanger G, Morgan AC, Kohler H, Muller S. Endowing self-binding feature rescues the activities of loss-of-function chimeric anti-GM2 Antibody. Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy. Accepted. 2006.

Zhao Y , Chaiswing, L, Bakthavatchalu V, Oberley TD, St. Clair DK. Ras mutation promotes p53 activation and apoptosis of skin keratinocytes. Carcinogenesis. In press. 2006.

Zhao Y , Wang LM, Chaiswing L, Yen HC, Oberley TD, Lien Y, Lin SM, Mattson MP, St. Clair DK. Tamoxifen protects against acute tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced cardiac injury via improving mitochondrial functions. Free Radical Biology & Medicine. 40: 1234-1241, 2006.

Grimes KR, Daosukho C, Zhao Y, Meigooni A, St. Clair WH. Proteosome inhibition improves fractionated radiation treatment against non-small cell lung cancer: an antioxidant connection. International Journal of Oncology. 27:1047-1052, 2005.

Zhao Y , Russ M, Morgan AC, Muller S, Kohler H. SuperAntibody. Therapeutic applications of Drug Discovery Today. 10:1231-1236, 2005. Review.

St. Clair DK, Zhao Y, Chaiswing L, Oberley TD. Modulation of skin tumorigenesis by SOD. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 59:209-214, 2005.

Zhao Y , Chaiswing L, Velez JM, Batinic-Haberle I, Colburn N, Oberley TD, St. Clair DK. p53 Translocation to Mitochondria Precedes Its Nuclear Migration and Targets Mitochondrial Oxidative Defense Protein - Manganese Superoxide Dismutase. Cancer Research. 69:3745-3750, 2005.

Muller S, Zhao Y, Brown T, Morgan AC, Kohler H. TransMabs: Cell-penetrating antibodies, the next generation. Expert Opinions on Biological Therapy. 5:237-242, 2005.

Zhao Y , Chaiswing L, Oberley TD, Batinic-Haberle I, Fridovich I, Epstein CJ, St. Clair DK. Mechanisms based modulation of skin carcinogenesis by SOD mimetic in manganese superoxide dismutase deficiency mice. Cancer Research. 65:1401-1405, 2005.

Contact Info:
Yunfeng Zhao, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology & Neuroscience
LSU Health Science Center
Shreveport, LA 71103
Tel: (318) 675-7876
Fax: (318) 675-7857
yzhao1@lsuhsc.edu