Chenggong(Nobel) Zong, PHD
Doctoral Degree in Physiology; Bachlor Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Computer Science.

e-mail: zchgh@hotmail.com

Research interest:

From 2001 to 2005, my research focus was the role of protein turn-over in cardiac protection. Specifically, proteasome is the major protease in the heart. When the heart is under stress, the production of damaged proteins drastically increases. Such proteins need to be removed in a timely fashion; otherwise they will induce toxic effects. In these circumstances, proteasome regulation is one of the main mechanisms to counteract the stress. I have developed methodology to purified proteasome from murine heart tissue and analyzed the composition of this protein complex. Furthermore, I explored the role of phosphorylation in tuning the functionality of this protein complex. Proteasome regulating kinase/phosphatase has been identified and the targets of such modifications reported. Besides my own project, I also actively participated in other on-going projects investigating cardiac protection signaling network, including mitochondria related apoptosis and kinase signaling cascade. The overall goal of the research is to illustrate the molecular mechanism of cardiac protection and find suitable targets for possible clinical interventions.

Over the years, I have mastered multiple biological techniques, including Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC: ion-exchange chromatography, gel-filtration chromatography, hydrophobic-interaction chromatography, reverse-phase chromatography and affinity chromatography), western blotting, Immunoprecipitation, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), 1D SDS PAGE, 2D electrophoresis, Native gel electrophoresis, blue native gel electrophoresis, zymogen electrophoresis, DNA agarose electrophoresis, polymerase chain reaction, recombinant protein expression and purification (both bacteria and insect cells), mammalian cell culture, kinase activity assay and protease activity assay. Furthermore, I have personally pursued and very familiar with immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and HPLC coupled tandem mass spectrometry. My strength is combined biology and proteomics background.

Publications:

1. Drews O, Zong C , Ping P. Exploring Proteasome Complexes by Proteomic Approaches. Proteomics (Accepted).

2. Gomes, A, Zong C , Ping P. Protein Degradation by the 26S Proteasome System in the Normal and Stressed Myocardium. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. 2006;8:1677-91.

3. Zong C , Gomes A, Drews O, Li X, Glen Y, Berhane B, Qiao X, French S, Bardag-Gorce F, Ping P. Regulation of Murine Cardiac 20S Proteasomes: Role of Associating Partners. Circulation Research 2006;99:362-71.

4.Gomes A, Zong C , Edmondson R, Li X, Zhang J, Jones R, Thyparambil S, Wang G, Qiao X, Bardag-Gorce F, Ping P. Mapping the Murine Cardiac 26S Proteasome Complexes: Proteomic Basis of the Murine Cardiac 26S Proteasomes. Circulation Research 2006 ;99:372-80.

5. Gomes A, Zong C , Edmondson R, Berhane B, Wang G, Le S, Young G, Zhang J, Vondriska T, Whitelegge J, Jones R, Joshua I, Thyparambil S, Pantaleon D, Qiao J, Loo J, Ping P. The Murine Cardiac 26S Proteasome—An Organelle Awaiting Exploration. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2005;1047:197-207.

6. Berhane BT, Zong C , Liem DA, Huang A, Le S, Edmondson RD, Jones RC, Qiao X, Whitelegge JP, Ping P, Vondriska TM. Cardiovascular-related Proteins Identified in Human Plasma by the HUPO Plasma Proteome Project Pilot Phase. Proteomics. 2005:3520-30.

7. Zhang J, Baines CP, Zong C , Cardwell EM, Wang G, Vondriska TM, Ping P. Functional Proteomic Analysis of a Three-tier PKCepsilon-Akt-eNOS Signaling Module in Cardiac Protection. American Journal of Physiology Heart Circulation Physiology . 2005;288:H954.

8. Ping P, Baines CP, Gu Y, Prabhu SD, Zhang J, Tsai LL, Cardwell E, Zong NC , Vondriska TM, Korge P, Bhatnagar A, Wang GW. Cardiac toxic effects of trans-2-hexenal are mediated by induction of cardiomyocyte apoptotic pathways. Cardiovascular Toxicology. 2003;3:341-51.