Zhixing Kevin Pan, MD, PhD: "The Endogenous Negative Regulators: Potential Drug Targets for Treatment of Inflammatory Diseases"

Monday, July 4, 2016, 14.00, Hygiene Institute, Lecture Hall 1, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1090 Vienna

COLLOQUIUM IN PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, INFECTIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY

» Invitation

Zhixing Kevin Pan received his M.D. and Ph.D. in 1991 at the Shanghai Second Medical University. After postdoctoral training in the Department of Immunology, the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, California, USA), he established his own laboratory (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute in 2000. Dr. Pan relocated his laboratory to the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Ohio as Associate Professor in 2003 and was promoted to Professor with Tenure in 2006. His research has been supported continuously by multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The main research interest of Dr. Pan's laboratory is to better understand the molecular mechanisms by which host cells recognize microbial products thereby initiating inflammatory responses. In fact, his group has successfully characterized: a) roles for NF-kappaB in GPCR signaling; b) function of Rho in leukocyte responses to bacterial products; and c) signaling pathway for TLR4-dependent response to LPS. Dr. Pan has made these major discoveries by using the most advanced cutting-edge technologies, including transgenic and knockout mice, siRNA-mediated gene silencing, and cell-based reporter system to monitor activation of NF-kappaB and other transcription factors. His work has formed a conceptual framework for our current understanding of host innate immunity against microbial pathogens and the patho-physiology of inflammatory diseases. In fact, some of these discoveries may lead to the development of new biomarkers and therapeutics.  

5 Key Publications

• Pan, Z., Kravchenko, V.V.,Ye, R.D. Platelet-activating factor stimulates transcription of the heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor in monocytes. Correlation with an increased NF-kB binding activity. J. Biol. Chem. 270: 7787, 1995.
• Pan, Z.K., Zuraw,B., Lung,C. Prossnitz,E.R., Browning,D.D., Ye, R.D. Bradykinin stimulates NF-kB activation and cytokine gene expression in cultured human fibroblasts. J. Clin. Invest. 98: 2042, 1996.
• Ptasznik, A. E., Chinta, S. C., Costa, M. A., Kalota, A. A., Swider, C. R., Katz, B. A., Demir, G. C., Pan, Z. K., Gewirtz, A.M. G protein-coupled chemokine receptor signaling through a Scr family kinase in normal and maligant hematopoietic cells. J. Exp. Med. 196:667, 2002.
• Chen, L-Y, Pan, W.W., Chen, M., Li, J-D., Liu, W., Chen, G., Huang, S., Papadimos, T.J., and Pan, Z.K.  Synergistic induction of inflammation by bacterial products LPS and fMLP: An importanat microbial pathogenic mechanism.  J. Immunol.  182 :2518, 2009. 
• Hong S, Noh H, Chen H, Padia R, Pan ZK, Su SB, Jing Q, Ding HF, Huang S. Signaling by p38 MAPK stimulates nuclear localization of the microprocessor component p68 for processing of selected primary microRNAs. Science Signal. 2013 ra16.  

Host: Hannes Stockinger