Peking University, Oct. 29, 2010: Two research teams from Peking University First Hospital and Shenzhen Graduate School have made significant achievements respectively in H2S’s cardiovascular effect and Caribenol A molecules, which were published on Antioxid Redox Signal and Journal of the American Chemical Society respectively.
Prof. Du Junbao’s team from PKU First Hospital studied hyperhomocysteinemia, revealing the regulation effect of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) on the stress reactions of cardiac endoplasmic reticulum (ER), all on the levels of animals’ individuals, organs, tissue, cells and molecules. H2S was found to inactivate glucose-regulated protein 78, caspase 12 and homologous proteins, in order to protect cardiac from injuries caused by ER overreactions.
As this research pointed out - for the first time at home and abroad, H2S’s regulation on ER reactions is the main mechanism of its endogenous protection on cardiac. It was scientifically of great importance, especially to the theory of endogenous cardiovascular protection and the discovery of the gasotransmitters’ cardiovascular biological effects. Moreover, it provided a fresh idea and a new direction for the treatment of some diseases, such as cardiac injuries.
Prof. Yang Zhen and his assistants from PKU Shenzhen Graduate School’s School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, made the latest achievement in Caribenol A, which was specially recommended by Nature Chemistry.
During the research, they completed the first asymmetric total synthesis of Caribenol A, the key step of which was intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction, as well as the oxidation and hydroxylation reactions of lactones.
Background Info:
Du Junbao, a professor of medicine and a doctoral supervisor, works as deputy director of PKU First Hospital’s Department of Pediatrics, member of First Hospital’s Academic Committee and Chinese Committee of Pediatrics. He graduated from the Department of Medicine of the former Beijing Medical University in 1984, and then got his PhD degree in 1989.
Prof. Du is mainly engaged in cardiovascular of pediatrics. He is also vice editor-in-chief of Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, and editorial member of many other magazines, including Br Med J (Chinese Edition), Int J Pediatr Neonat and Recent Patent Reviews on Cardiovascular Drug Discovery. He has published 280 academic papers at home and abroad.
Prof. Du is in charge of many research subjects, including those supported by China’s National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars, Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education, Science Foundation for The Excellent Youth Scholars of Ministry of Education, and so on. And the research mentioned above was selected as a 973 program and a major one of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
Yang Zhen is PKU’s Changjiang Chair Professor, and dean of Shenzhen Graduate School’s School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology. With abundant overseas research experience, he returned to China in 2001 and has worked in PKU ever since.
With a brand new method of combinatorial chemical synthesis, Prof. Yang used to explore and accelerate the synthesis of natural products’ analogues, providing an effective way for new drugs’ production. Presently, he is engaged in the total synthesis of complex natural products, organometallic catalytic reaction, and anti-virus/anti-tumor drugs.yi8xing8@163.com
Prof. Yang has won a lot of honors and awards, to list a few - Young Investigator Award (abroad) by NSF of China in 2000, Glaxo-Simth-Kline Drug Discovery and Development Award (USA) in 2001, and Eli Lilly Scientific Excellence Award (China) in 2005.
Translated by: Jin Ludi
Edited by: Jacques
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
