Xia Zhang, PhD (1999)

Present Position: Research Assistant Professor

Previous Position: Visiting Fellow (NCI-NIH, Frederick, MD)

PhD: Queens University of Canada, Biochemistry

Research interests: MAPK activation and chromatin remodeling

Publications: 2002-2006: 

1. Cao, SJ., Zhang, X., Edwards, J.P., and Mosser, D.M. 2006.  NF-kappaB1 (p50) homodimer differentially regulate pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages.  J. Biological Chemistry. In Press.
2. Edwards, J.P., Zhang, X., Frauwirth, K., and Mosser, D.M. 2006. Biochemical and Functional Characterization of Three Activated Macrophage Populations. J. Leukocyte Biol. In Press.
3. Zhang, X., Edwards, J.P., and Mosser, D.M. 2006. Dynamic and transient remodelling of the macrophage IL-10 promoter during ranscription. J. Immunology. 177:1282-1288.
4. Iribarren P, Chen K, Hu J, Zhang X, Gong W, Wang JM. 2005. IL-4 inhibits the _expression of mouse formyl peptide receptor 2, a receptor for amyloid beta1-42, in TNF-alpha-activated microglia. J Immunol 175:6100-6106. [Pubmed]
5. Lucas M, Zhang X, Prasanna V, Mosser DM. 2005. ERK Activation following macrophage FcgammaR ligation leads to chromatin modifications at the IL-10 locus. J Immunol 175: 469-477. [Pubmed]
6. Gao Z, Chiao P, Zhang X, Zhang X, Lazar MA, Seto E, Young HA, Ye J. 2005. Coactivators and Corepressors of NF-{kappa}B in I{kappa}B{alpha} Gene Promoter. J Biol Chem 280(22):21091-21098. [Pubmed]
7. Zhou Y, Bian XW, Le YY, Gong WH, Hu JY, Zhang X, Wang LH, Iribarren P, Salcedo R, Howard OMZ, Farrar W, Wang JM. 2005. Formylpeptide receptor FPR and the rapid growth of malignant human gliomas. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 97(11):823-835. [Pubmed]
8. Chung IY, Dong HF, Zhang X, Hassanein NMA, Oppenheim JJ, Chen X, Howard OMZ. 2004. Effects of IL-7 and dexamethasone: Induction of CD25, the high affinity IL-2 receptor, on human CD4(+) cells. Cellular Immunology 232(1-2):57-63. [Pubmed]
9. Zhang X, Rodriguez-Galan MC, Subleski JJ, Ortaldo JR, Hodge DL, Wang JM, Shimozato O, Reynolds DA, Young HA. 2004. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma and its ligands attenuate biologic functions of human natural killer cells. Blood 104(10):3276-3284. [Pubmed]
10. Bian XW, Chen JH, Jiang XF, Bai JS, Wang QL, Zhang X. 2004. Angiogenesis as an immunopharmacologic target in inflammation and cancer. Int Immunopharmacol 4(12):1537-1547. [Pubmed]
11. Le Y, Iribarren P, Zhou Y, Gong W, Hu J, Zhang X, Wang JM. 2004. Silencing the formylpeptide receptor FPR by short-interfering RNA. Mol Pharmacol 66(4):1022-1028. [Pubmed]
12. Ivanova AV, Ivanov SV, Zhang X, Ivanov VN, Timofeeva OA, Lerman MI. 2004. STRA13 interacts with STAT3 and modulates transcription of STAT3-dependent targets. J Mol Biol 340(4):641-653. [Pubmed]
13. Le Y, Iribarren P, Gong W, Cui Y, Zhang X, Wang JM. 2004. TGF-beta1 disrupts endotoxin signaling in microglial cells through Smad3 and MAPK pathways. J Immunol 173(2):962-968. [Pubmed]
14. Tao HY, Wu CF, Zhou Y, Gong WH, Zhang X, Iribarren P, Zhao YQ, Le YY, Wang JM. 2004. The grape component resveratrol interferes with the function of chemoattractant receptors on phagocytic leukocytes. Cellular and Molecular Immunology 1:150-56, 2004. [Pubmed]
15. Zhou Y, Le, YY, Iribarren P, Gong WH, Zhang X, Wang JM. 2004. The role of chemokine receptors CCR5 and CXCR4 in HIV-1 infection. Revista de Ciência de Saứde de Macau (Health Science Journal of Macao) 4: 17-21.
16. Iribarren P, Cui YH, Le Y, Ying G, Zhang X, Gong W, Wang JM. 2003. IL-4 down-regulates lipopolysaccharide-induced formyl peptide receptor 2 in murine microglial cells by inhibiting the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases. J Immunol 171(10):5482-5488. [Pubmed]
17. Salcedo R, Zhang X, Young HA, Michael N, Wasserman K, Ma WH, Martins-Green M, Murphy WJ, Oppenheim JJ. 2003. Angiogenic effects of prostaglandin E2 are mediated by up-regulation of CXCR4 on human microvascular endothelial cells. Blood 102(6):1966-1977. [Pubmed]
18. Sayers TJ, Brooks AD, Koh CY, Ma W, Seki N, Raziuddin A, Blazar BR, Zhang X, Elliott PJ, Murphy WJ. 2003. The proteasome inhibitor PS-341 sensitizes neoplastic cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis by reducing levels of c-FLIP. Blood 102(1):303-310. [Pubmed]
19. Zhang X, Young HA. 2002. PPAR and immune system--what do we know? Int Immunopharmacol 2(8):1029-1044. [Pubmed]
20. Cui YH, Le Y, Zhang X, Gong W, Abe K, Sun R, Van Damme J, Proost P, Wang JM. 2002. Up-regulation of FPR2, a chemotactic receptor for amyloid beta 1-42 (A beta 42), in murine microglial cells by TNF alpha. Neurobiol Dis 10(3):366-377. [Pubmed]
21. Bream JH, Ping A, Zhang X, Winkler C, Young HA. 2002. A single nucleotide polymorphism in the proximal IFN-gamma promoter alters control of gene transcription. Genes Immun 3(3):165-169. [Pubmed]
22. Wang T, Zhang X, Li JJ. 2002. The role of NF-kappaB in the regulation of cell stress responses. Int Immunopharmacol 2(11):1509-1520. [Pubmed]

Research Summary:

We are examining the signal transduction pathways leading to the production of IL-10 in macrophages.  IL-10 production requires the activation of the MAPK, ERK.  ERK activation results in chromatin remodeling at the il10 locus.  We show that histone H3 is covalently modified on Ser 10 shortly after macrophage activation with immune complexes.  A more modest level of acetylation of histone H3 follows phosphorylation (Figure 1).  These modifications are specific to the IL-10 promoter and do not occur at distal sites 5' of the start site, nor do they occur in the IL-12 promoter.  Inhibition of ERK prevents the formation of these modifications and prevents the production of IL-10.