Dr. Zemin Yao

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 lipoprotein metabolism. 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 Ibad cholesterol,O 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 Igood cholesterol,O 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, but their function in lipid metabolism or in adipogenesis is unclear. 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. YaoIs research utilizes modern molecular and cellular biology techniques including genetically inactivating (known as IknockoutO) or expressing (known as transgenic) specific genes in mice, novel lipodomics approaches, and electron microscopic tomography. 

Currently, Dr. YaoIs 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, 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 613-798-5555(18711) or zyao@uottawa.ca or zyao@ottawaheart.ca.

Selected Publications:

1. Ko, K. W. S., Avramoglu, R. K., McLeod, R. S., Vukmirica, J., and Yao, Z. (2001) The insulin-stimulated cell surface presentation of low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein in 3T3-L1 adipocytes is sensitive to phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase inhibition. Biochemistry 40, 752-759

2. Becker, L., McLeod, R. S., Marcovina, S. M., Yao, Z., and Koschinsky, M. L. (2001) Identification of a critical residue in apolipoprotein B-100 that mediates non-covalent interaction with apolipoprotein(a). J. Biol. Chem. 276, 36155-36162

3. Nishimaki-Mogami, T., Yao, Z., and Fujimori, K. (2002) Inhibition of phosphatidylcholine synthesis via the phosphatidylethanolamine methylation impairs incorporation of bulk lipids into VLDL in cultured rat hepatocytes. J. Lipid Res. 43, 1035-1045

4. 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, 31187-31200

5. Vukmirica, J., Nishimaki-Mogami, T., Tran, K., Shan, J., McLeod, R. S., Yuan, J., and Yao, Z. (2002) The N-linked oligosaccharides at the amino terminus of human apoB are Important for the assembly and secretion of VLDL. J. Lipid Res. 43, 1496-1507

6. Ramsamy, T. A., Boucher, J., Brown, R. J., Yao, Z., and Sparks, D. L. (2003) HDL regulates the displacement of hepatic lipase from cell surface proteoglycans and the hydrolysis of VLDL triacylglycerol. J. Lipid Res. 44, 733-741

7. 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, 13442-13452

8. 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, 14153-14161

9. Brown, R. J., Schultz, J. R., Ko, K. W. S., Hill, J. S. Ramsamy, T. A., White, A. L., Sparks, D. L., and Yao, Z. (2003) The amino acid sequences of the carboxyl termini of human and mouse hepatic lipase influence cell surface association. J. Lipid Res. 44, 1306-1314

10. Lapierre, L., Currie, D. L., Yao , Z. , Wang, J., and McLeod, R. S. (2004) Amino acid sequences within the b1 domain of human apolipoprotein B can mediate rapid intracellular degradation. J. Lipid Res. 45: 366-377

11. 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: 2221-2230

12. 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: 42403-42409

13. Sun, F., Avramoglu, R. K., Vassiliou, G., Brown, R. J., Ko, K. W. S., McPherson, R., and Yao , Z. (2004) Do clustered b -propeller domains within the N-terminus of LRP1 play a functional role? Biochim. Biophys. Acta (in the press)