Dr. Jinming Zhao’s Research

Dr. Zhao’s research has been focused on the pathogenesis of severe asthma as it relates to the role of the 15-Lipoxygenase-1 (15LO1) signaling pathway. 15-Lipoxygenase 1 is one of several key enzymes involved in arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism. Using primary human airway epithelial cells as a model, Dr. Zhao’s research suggests that 15LO1 increases with severity of asthma and regulates MUC5AC gene expression. He was the first to show that 15LO1 interacts with Raf-1/PEBP1 to regulate MAPK/ERK signal pathway and amplify IL-4Rα signaling in human airway epithelial cells. These data suggest that the 15LO1 pathway could play a critical role in regulating gene expression which contributes to asthma pathogenesis. Dr. Zhao is particularly interested in the mechanism of 15LO1 expression in chronic Th2 background, the downstream effects of 15LO1 pathway activation on inflammatory gene expression and the key biologic activity of the 15LO1 enzyme products.

Confocal images of endobronchial tissue show high expression and co-localization of 15LO1 with PEBP1 (in yellow) in airway epithelium of a severe asthmatic as compared to normal control (area indicated with white arrows).

Patient Care and Referral

Comprehensive Lung Center (CLC)
Falk Medical Building, 4th Floor
3601 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-648-6161