University of Pittsburgh

Jianzhong Zhu, PhD

Research Associate





	
	


			

		Dr. Jianzhong Zhu	
		

		

	
Contact

    		

		jzz9@pitt.edu	
		

		
			

		412-623-7729	
		

		
	
	
			

		Fax: 
		412-623-7715	
		

	    

    
    
   
    
   
    
    		

		
1.8 Hillman Cancer Center
5117 Center Avenue
	
		

	    
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
    
	
	
	
			

		Pittsburgh, PA 15213	
		

		
		
	



	
Education
	
	

	
PhD in Preventive Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China, 2000
MS in Preventive Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China, 1997
BS in Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China, 1994 
        

              
   
  
 
 	
Research Summary
	
	

	
I received my post-doctoral training in innate immune signaling in the context of infection, specifically focusing on the TLR cell signaling in macrophages which contributes to malaria pathogenesis, as well as the signaling mechanisms of mammalian TLRs.  I have continued similar line of research in Dr. Sarkar’s laboratory focusing in innate immune signaling and modulation during both virus infection and tumorigenesis of several cancer types. My work in this field has generated more than 10 first-author papers published in major journals. My expertise and knowledge in this field will contribute to the understanding of the critical components of a number of signaling pathways involved in anti-virus response by host and tumor progression, and the identification of the potential targets for prevention and/or therapy of either infection or tumors.
	
	




  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 
 
   
   
















        









	
Research Lab Affiliation
	
	

	Sarkar Lab	
	










	
Why I Chose Pitt
	
	

	
Pitt is a well known institute for bio-medical research; the city of Pittsburgh is also very good for living.
	
	




	
Publications
	
	

	
Kohanbash, G; Ishikawa, E; Fujita, M; Ikeura, M; McKaveney, K; Zhu, J; Sakaki, M; Sarkar, S. N; and Okada, H. (2012) Differential activity of interferon-α8 promoter is regulated by Oct-1 and a SNP that dictates prognosis of glioma. OncoImmunology. 1: 487-492. |  View Abstract
Zhu, J; Weinberg, R; Wu, X; Gowda, N. M; Muta, T; and Gowda, D. C. (2012) Ikappab-zeta plays an important role in the ERK-dependent dysregulation of malaria parasite GPI-induced IL-12 expression. IUBMB Life. 64: 187-193. |  View Abstract
Umemura, N; Zhu, J; Mburu, Y. K; Forero, A; Hsieh, P. N; Muthuswamy, R; Kalinski, P; Ferris, R. L; and Sarkar, S. N. (2012) Defective NF-kappaB signaling in metastatic head and neck cancer cells leads to enhanced apoptosis by double-stranded RNA. Cancer Res. 72: 45-55. |  View Abstract
Zhu, J; Krishnegowda, G; Li, G; and Gowda, D. C. (2011) Proinflammatory responses by glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) of Plasmodium falciparum are mainly mediated through the recognition of TLR2/TLR1. Exp Parasitol. 128: 205-211. |  View Abstract
Zhu, J; Coyne, C. B; and Sarkar, S. N. (2011) PKC alpha regulates Sendai virus-mediated interferon induction through HDAC6 and β-catenin. EMBO J. 30: 4838-4849. |  View Abstract
Mukherjee, A; Morosky, S. A; Shen, L; Weber, C. R; Turner, J. R; Kim, K. S; Wang, T; and Coyne, C. B. (2009) Retinoic acid-induced gene-1 (RIG-I) associates with the actin cytoskeleton via caspase activation and recruitment domain-dependent interactions. J Biol Chem. 284: 6486-6494. |  View Abstract
Zhu, J; Smith, K; Hsieh, P. N; Mburu, Y. K; Chattopadhyay, S; Sen, G. C; and Sarkar, S. N. (2010) High-Throughput Screening for TLR3-IFN Regulatory Factor 3 Signaling Pathway Modulators Identifies Several Antipsychotic Drugs as TLR Inhibitors. J Immunol. 184: 5768-5776. |  View Abstract