Dr. Zemin Yao

Dr. Zeming Yao

Professor & Chairman

Degrees:

B.Sc. (E. Chin. Normal)
M.Sc. (UBC)
Ph.D. (ibid)

Contact info:

Office: Roger Guindon Hall, Rm. 4204 (Office) Rm 4210 (lab)
Phone: 562-5800 x 8202
Email: zyao@uottawa.ca

Other Website

Research Interests: 

Dr. Zemin Yao is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Born in Shanghai, China, Dr. Yao obtained his MSc and PhD in Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and his postdoctoral research training at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1991, Dr. Yao was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Alberta where he established his first independent research program at the Lipid and Lipoprotein Research Group of the University of Alberta with support from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, and the Medical Research Council of Canada (now the Canadian Institutes of Health Research).  In 1994, Dr. Yao joined the University of Ottawa Heart Institute to direct the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory of the CIHR Lipoprotein and Atherosclerosis Group. Currently, Dr. Yao is Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology of the University of Ottawa. 

Dr. Yao has a broad research interest in the metabolism of lipids and lipoproteins, and in the relationships between various diseases and the abnormalities in the metabolism of lipoproteins and lipoprotein receptors. Lipoproteins are microscopic particles that carry the majority of cholesterol and triglycerides in the circulation. Elevation of the disease-causing lipoproteins, known as LDL or “bad cholesterol,” is often associated with metabolic syndromes (such as diabetes and obesity) and with premature coronary heart disease. On the other hand, increase in the atherosclerosis-protecting lipoproteins, known as HDL or “good cholesterol,” lowers the incidence of premature coronary heart disease in man.  Dr. Yao has investigated the lipid and protein factors that regulate the biosynthesis of LDL and HDL, and his research has yielded insights into the molecular mechanisms responsible for various diseases, including familial defective apoB (that causes high blood concentration of LDL), familial hypobetalipoproteinemia and familial abetalipoproteinemia (both have abnormally low blood concentration of LDL), and familial combined hyperlipidemia (caused by overproduction of disease-causing lipoproteins). Dr. Yao is currently investigating several enzymes and proteins that are produced in the liver and adipose tissue, and is also investigating the role of lipoprotein receptor in the development of cancer. His research directly relates to the development of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of dyslipidemia (abnormal blood lipoproteins) and relates to the prevention of metabolic disorders and coronary heart diseases. 

Dr. Yao´s research utilizes modern molecular and cellular biology techniques including genetically inactivating (known as “knockout”) or expressing (known as transgenic) specific genes in mice, novel lipodomics approaches, and electron microscopic tomography. 

Currently, Dr. Yao’s active research program is funded through operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, grant-in-aids from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, research & development grant from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and personnel awards from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. Dr. Yao has received numerous recognitions and awards from international and national organizations.  He was the recipient of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Scholarship Award, the McDonald Scholarship of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Scientist Award of the Medical Research Council of Canada. Dr. Yao was the Finalist for the Irvine H. Page Arteriosclerosis Award of the American Heart Association, and was the recipient of the Simon Pierre Noel Lectureship Award and the Senior Investigator Award of the Canadian Lipoprotein Conference. Dr. Yao publishes his experimental results in scientific journals and regularly presents his discoveries at national and international conferences. Dr. Yao is also an active teacher who mentors postgraduate students in the laboratory and teaches undergraduate, postgraduate, and medical school students annually. Dr. Yao is currently the recipient of a Career Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.  

For further information, please contact Dr. Zemin Yao at 613-562-5800(8202) or zyao@uottawa.ca

Selected Publications:

  1. Hu Zhou, Fangjun Wang**, Yuwei Wang, Zhibin Ning, Weimin Hou, Theodore G. Wright, Meenakshi Sundaram, Shumei Zhong, Zemin Yao, and Daniel Figeys
    Improved Recovery and Identification of Membrane Proteins from Rat Hepatic Cells using a Centrifugal Proteomic Reactor* (July 2011)
  2. Wen Qin, Sundaram, M., Wang, Y, Zhou, H., Zhong, S., Chang, CC, Manhas, S., Yao, E.F., Parks, R.J., McFie, P.J., Stone, S.J., Jiang, Z.G., Wang, C., Figeys, D., Jia, W., Yao, Z. (2011) Missense Mutation in AP0C3 withing the C-terminal Lipid-binding domain of Human apoC-III Results in Impaired Assembly and Secretion of Triacylglycerol-rich Very Low Density Lipoproteins. J. Biol. Chem. (June 2011)
  3. Michelle Bamji-Mirza, * Meenakshi Sundaram, * Shumei Zhong, * Erik F. Yao, * Robin J. Parks, and Zemin Yao 1, * Secretion of triacylglycerol-poor VLDL particles from McA-RH7777 cells expressing human hepatic lipase (December 2010)
  4. Khalil, MB, Blais, A, Figey, D, Yao, Z. Lipin - The bridge between hepatic glycerolipid biosynthesis and lipoprotein metabolism. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Volume 1801, issue 12 (2010) 1249-1259
  5. Sundaram, M., and Yao, Z. Recent progress in understanding protein and lipid factors affecting hepatic VLDL assembly and secretion. Nutrition & Metabolism 2010, 7:35 (e-publication in 27 April 2010)
  6. Sundaram, M., Zhong, S., Bou Khalil, M., Zhou, H., Jiang, Z. G., Zhao, Y., Iqbal, J., Hussain, M. M., Figeys, D., Wang, Y., and Yao, Z. (2010) Functional analysis of the missense APOC3 mutation Ala23Thr associated with human hypotriglyceridemia. J. Lipid Res. 2010 Jun;51(6):1524-34
  7. Zhong, S., Magnolo, A. L., Sundaram, M., Zhou, H., Yao, E. F., Leo, E. D., Loria, P., Wang, S., Bamji-Mirza, M., Wang, L., McKnight, J., Figeys, D., Wang, Y., Tarugi, P., and Yao, Z. (2010) Nonsynonymous mutations within APOB in human hypobetalipoproteinemia: Evidence for feedback inhibition of lipogenesis and post-endoplasmic reticulum degradation of apolipoprotein B. J. Biol. Chem. 285, 6453-6464. Article
  8. Sundaram, M., Zhong, S., Bou Khalil, M., Links, P. H., Zhao, Y., Iqbal, J., Hussain, M., Parks, R., Wang, Y., and Yao, Z. (2010) Expression of apolipoprotein C-III in McA-RH7777 cells enhances VLDL assembly and secretion under lipid-rich conditions. J. Lipid Res. 51, 150-161
  9. Ye, J., Li, J. Z., Liu, Y., Li, X., Yang, T., Ma, X., Li, Q., Yao, Z., Li, P. (2009) Cideb, an ER and lipid droplet-associated protein, mediates VLDL lipidation by interacting with apolipoprotein B. Cell Metabol. 9, 177-190
  10. Bou Khalil, M., Sundaram, M., Zhang, H., Links, P., Raven, J. F., Manmontri, B., Sariahmetoglu, M., Tran, K., Reue, K., Brindley, D., and Yao, Z. (2009) The level and compartmentalization of phosphatidate phosphohydrase-1 (lipin-1) control the assembly and secretion of hepatic VLDL. J. Lipid Res. 50, 47-58
  11. Pan, M., Maitin, V., Parathath, S., Andreo, U., Lin, S. X., St. Germain, C., Yao, Z., Maxfield, F. R., Williams, K. J., and Fisher, E. A. (2008) Pre-secretory oxidation, aggregation, and autophagosomal destruction of apoprotein-B: a novel pathway for late-stage quality control. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 5862-5867
  12. Zhang, H., Lee, J. M., Wang, Y., Dong, L., Ko, K. W. S., Pelletier, L:, and Yao, Z. (2008) Mutational analysis of the FxNPxY motif within LDL receptor-related protein (LRP1) reveals functional importance of the tyrosine residues in cell growth regulation and signal transduction. Biochem. J. 409, 53-64
  13. Burnett, J. R., Zhong, S., Jiang, Z. G., Hooper, A. J., Fisher, E., McLeod, R. S., Zhao, Y., Barrett, H. R., Hegele, R. A., Zhang, H., Vance, D. E., van Bockxmeer, F. M., McKnight, C. J., and Yao, Z. (2007) Misssense mutation in APOB within the beta-alpha-1 domain of human apoB-100 results in impaired secretion of apoB and apoB-containing lipoproteins in familial hypobetalipoproteinemia. J. Biol. Chem.282, 24270-83
  14. Lo, J. C., Wang, Y., Tumanov, A.V., Bamji, M., Yao, Z. Reardon, C. A., Getz, G. S., and Fu, Y. X., (2007) Lymphotoxin β receptor dependent-control of lipid homeostasis. Science 316, 285-8
  15. Brown, R. J., Gauthier, A., Parks, R. J., McPherson, R., Sparks, D. L., Schultz, J. R., and Yao, Z. (2004) Severe Hypoalphalipoproteinemia in Mice Expressing Human Hepatic Lipase Deficient in Binding to Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 42403-9
  16. Zhang, H., Links, P. H., Ngsee, J. K., Tran, K., Cui, Z., and Yao, Z. (2004) Localization of LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) to caveolae in 3T3-L1 adipocytes in response to insulin treatment. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 2221-30
  17. Vukmirica, J., Tran, K., Liang, X., Shan, J., Yuan, J., Miskie, B. A., Hegele, R. A., Resh, M. D. , and Yao, Z. (2003) Assembly and secretion of very low density lipoproteins containing apolipoprotein B48 in transfected McA-RH7777 cells: lack of evidence that palmitoylation of apolipoprotein B48 is required for lipoprotein secretion. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 14153-61
  18. Burnett, J. R., Shan, J., Miskie, B. A., Whitfield, A. J., Yuan, J., Tran, K., McKnight, C. J., Hegele, R. A., and Yao, Z. (2003) A novel non-truncating APOB gene mutation, R463W, causes familial hypobetalipoproteinemia. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 13442-52
  19. Tran, K., Thorne-Tjomsland, G., DeLong, C. J., Cui, Z., Shan, J., Burton, L., Jamieson, J. C., and Yao, Z. (2002) Intracellular assembly of very low density lipoproteins containing apolipoprotein B100 in rat hepatoma McA-RH7777 Cells. J. Biol. Chem.277, 31187-200

    Last modified: 2011-07-05
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