NAME: Jin, Zhe

POSITION TITLE: Professor, Department of Pathology, Shenzhen University School of Medicine

EDUCATION/TRAINING

A.   Personal Statement

My long-standing research interests lie in biomedical and molecular cancer research of esophageal, gastric and breast cancer. My current research focuses on non-coding RNA (microRNA and cricRNA) dysregulation and DNA hypermethyaltion underlying molecular carcinogenesis in the aerodigestive tract. Research in my lab has been continuously supported by the National Natural Science Foundation in China (NSFC) and Shenzhen Science and Technology Plan. I have published >50 papers in professional, peer-reviewed journals.I am currently mentoring one postdoctoral fellowand three MSc candidates.

B.   Positions and Honors

Positions and Employment

08/1992 – 09/ 1997: Surgeon, Department of Oncology, Shenyang No. 5 Hospital, Shenyang, China

04/2002 – 03/2003: Instructor, Department of Pathology, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan

10/2006-11/2010: Faculty Research Associate, Division of Gastroenterology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA

12/2010-12/2011: Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

01/2012-present: Professor, Department of Pathology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

Other Experience and Honors

1.      Associate Member of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)

2.      Associate Member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

C.   Contributions to Science (*: corresponding/co-corresponding author)

A full list of my publications (in a total of 57) is enclosed at the end of this document.

1.    Hy permethylation of AP C in human breast cancer

I first demonstrated that hypermethylation of APC promoters has a role in the carcinogenesis of human breast cancer and that this phenomenon occurs independently as a cancer-specific event. This finding has enormous implications for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. The results of this work were published in the British Journal of Cancer, which is one of the most widely read and frequently cited journals in the field of cancer research. The widespread recognition of this work is evidenced by its coverage by several media sources, including the BBC.

1)    Jin Z, Tamura G, Tsuchiya T, Sakata K, Kashiwaba M, Osakabe M, Motoyama T. Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene promoter hypermethylation in primary breast cancers. Br J Cancer 85: 69-73, 2001.

2.    Methylation Biomarkers for Progression Prediction in Barrett’s Esophagus

I have developed a risk stratification strategy to predict neoplastic progression in patients with Barrett’s Esophagus (BE) based on an eight marker tissue methylation panel. This highly specific panel accurately predicted ~50% of high grade dysplasias and esophageal adnocarcinomas that would not have otherwise been predicted. This model is expected to reduce endoscopic procedures performed in BE surveillance while simultaneously increasing detection at earlier stages. Thus, these findings suggest that a methylation biomarker panel offers promise as a clinically useful tool in the risk stratification of patients with BE.

1)    Z Jin, Y Mori, J Yang, F Sato, T Ito, Y Cheng, B Paun, JP Hamilton, T Kan, A Olaru, S David, R Agarwal, JM Abraham, D Beer, E Montgomery and SJ Meltzer: Hypermethylation of the nel-like 1 gene is a common and early event and is associated with poor prognosis in early-stage esophageal adenocarcinoma. Oncogene, 26: 6332-6340, 2007.

2)    Zhe Jin, Alexandru Olaru, Jian Yang, Fumiaki Sato, Yulan Cheng, Takatsugu Kan, Yuriko Mori, Carmit Mantzur, Bogdan Paun, James P. Hamilton, Tetsuo Ito, Suna Wang, Stefan David, Rachana Agarwal, David G Beer, John M. Abraham, and Stephen J. Meltzer: Hypermethylation of Tachykinin-1 is a Potential Biomarker in Human Esophageal Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 13: 6293-6300, 2007.

3)     Zhe Jin, Jian Yang, Yuriko Mori, James P. Hamilton, Fumiaki Sato, Tetsuo Ito, Yulan Cheng, Bogdan Paun, Takatsugu Kan, Alexandru Olaru, Stefan David, Rachana Agarwal, John M. Abraham, and Stephen J. Meltzer: Hypermethylation of AKAP12 Promoter is a Biomarker of Barrett's-Associated Esophageal Neoplastic Progression. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 17: 111-117, 2008.

4)    Zhe Jin, Yuriko Mori, James P. Hamilton, Alexandru Olaru, Fumiaki Sato, Jian Yang, Tetsuo Ito, Takatsugu Kan, Rachana Agarwal, and Stephen J. Meltzer: Hypermethylation of the Somatostatin Promoter is a Common, Early Event in Human Esophageal Carcinogenesis. Cancer,  112: 43-49, 2008

5)    Zhe Jin, Yulan Cheng, Wen Gu, Yingye Zheng, Fumiaki Sato, Yuriko Mori, Alexandru V. Olaru, Bogdan C. Paun, Jian Yang, Takatsugu Kan, Tetsuo Ito, James P. Hamilton, Florin M. Selaru, Rachana Agarwal, Stefan David, John M. Abraham, Herbert C. Wolfsen, Michael B. Wallace, Nicholas J. Shaheen, Kay Washington, Jean Wang, Marcia Irene Canto, Achyut Bhattacharyya, Mark A. Nelson, Paul D. Wagner, Yvonne Romero, Kenneth K. Wang, Ziding Feng, Richard E. Sampliner, Stephen J. Meltzer. A multicenter, double-blinded validation study of methylation biomarkers for progression prediction in Barrett’s esophagus. Cancer Research, 69(10):4112-4115, 2009.  

3.    Dysregulation of microRNA in human gastric cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, single-stranded RNAs that negatively regulate transcription by sequence-specific interaction with the 3’ untranslated regions (UTRs) of target genes. Their target genes have critical roles in controlling cancer-related cellular processes, such as proliferation, migration, differentiation, apoptosis and cell-cycle progression. My group found that miRNA-192 and miRNA-215 are abnormally over-expressed and target the tumor suppressors ALCAM, SMG1 and FIP2 to promote cell proliferation and migration in gastric cancer(GC). MiRNA-194 and miRNA-192/-215 lie together in the same cluster. MiRNA-194 activates the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway in GC by targeting the negative Wnt regulator, SUFU. Thus, miRNA-192, miRNA-194 and miRNA-215 represent potential gastric miRNAs with a role in cancer, and their suppression may ultimately be explored for novel strategies in gastric cancer treatment

1)    Jin Z （corresponding author）, Cheng Y, Kan T, Mori Y, Agarwal R, Olaru AV, Yang J, Hamilton JP, David S, Abraham JM, Montgomery EA, Meltzer SJ. MicroRNAs -192 and -215 are upregulated in human gastric cancer and suppress ALCAM expression in vitro. Oncogene, 30(13):1577-85, 2011.

2)    Zhang X, Peng Y, Jin Z (co-first and corresponding author), Huang W, Cheng Y, Liu Y, Feng X, Yang M, Huang Y, Zhao Z, Wang L, Wei Y, Fan X, Zheng D, Meltzer SJ. Integrated miRNA profiling and bioinformatics analyses reveal potential causative miRNAs in gastric adenocarcinoma. Oncotarget. 2015 Oct 20;6(32):32878-89

3)    Peng Y, Zhang X, Feng X, Fan X, Jin Z (corresponding author). The crosstalk between microRNAs and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in cancer. rget.<016 jul="" e=" text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;"> 

54. Liang Wang, Xiaojing Zhang, Peng Yin1, Yan Gao, Yuan Zhang, Xianling Feng,Si Chen, Huimin Yu, Weiling Huang, Yong Huang, Qianhe Jian, Zhenfu Zhao,Xinmin Fan and Zhe Jin(corresponding author).Aberrant Methylation of HLTF Gene in Human Esophageal Cancer. Int J Hum Genet, 16(1,2): 70-76 (2016)

Jin Z (corresponding author), Meltzer SJ. MiRNA-194 activates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in gastric cancer by targeting the negative Wnt regulator, SUFU. Cancer Lett. 2017 Jan 28;385:117-127. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2016.10.035. Epub 2016 Oct 31.

57. Zhang X, Peng Y, Huang Y, Yang M, Yan R, Zhao Y, Cheng Y, Liu X, Deng S, Feng X, Lin H, Yu H, Chen S, Zhao Z, Li S, Li K, Wang L, Wei Y, He Z, Fan X, Meltzer SJ, Li S, Jin Z (corresponding author). SMG-1 inhibition by miR-192/-215 causes epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastric carcinogenesis via activation of Wnt signaling. Cancer Med. 2018 Jan;7(1):146-156. doi: 10.1002/cam4.1237. Epub 2017 Dec 13.