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 Jing Xuan Kang |
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Science
My laboratory studies the health benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the mechanisms of their action. We are particularly interested in the beneficial effects of these lipids on cardiovascular disease, cancer and inflammatory disorders. Studies are performed at the molecular, cellular, animal and human levels. Techniques employed are those of molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry and biophysics, including microarray analysis, viral gene transfer, lipidomics and transgenic animals. We have been investigating the cardiac antiarrhythmic effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for more than 12 years. Through a series of experiments, we have documented the efficacy of the protective effect of n-3 fatty acids against arrhythmias induced by various drugs/agents or by ischemia, and demonstrated that these fatty acids can stabilize the electrical excitability of cardiac myocytes by modulating ion channel activity. Our findings obtained so far have advanced our understanding of how these fatty acids can prevent cardiac arrhythmias, the main cause of sudden cardiac death. Our ongoing studies focus on identification of the factors/ pathways that mediate the protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids, aiming at elucidation of the molecular mechanism of their action.
Another major project in my laboratory is to develop a genetic approach to modifying fatty acid composition of mammalian cells (i.e. increase tissue omega-3 fatty acid content by converting omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids) without the need of dietary supplementation. (So far the only possible way to enrich the tissues with omega-3 fatty acids in mammals has been dietary provision of omega-3 fatty acids). By using transgenic technologies, we have demonstrated that expression of C. elegans omega-3 fatty acid desaturase (fat-1 gene) in mammalian cells, which normally lack this gene, rendered cells capable of converting n-6 fatty acids to corresponding n-3 fatty acids, leading to a balanced omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio and beneficial effects on cell function, with no need of supply of exogenous fatty acids. More importantly, we have successfully created transgenic mice that are capable of converting n-6 fatty acids to n-3 fatty acids. This novel mouse model is desirable for addressing the authentic biological effects of n-3 fatty acids as well as n-6/n-3 ratio in the body, without confounding factors of diet, and thus is a new tool for omega-3 fatty acid research. We, as well as more than 30 collaborators worldwide, are using the transgenic animals to evaluate the importance of omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6/omega-3 ratio in prevention and treatment of various clinical problems. This technology also provides a new strategy for producing omega-3-enriched foodstuff (e.g. meat, milk and eggs) by generating large transgenic fat-1 animals (e.g. cow, pig, sheep and chicken). We are currently collaborating with other scientists to generate "omega-3-producing" livestock. Transgenic pigs that can produce n-3 fatty acids from n-6 fatty acids have been recently generated.
In addition, my lab is also developing other lipid-related technologies for use in both laboratory and clinical settings, including quick and simple tests for diagnosis of lipid related diseases and evaluation of a person's risk of these diseases, and automatic processes/methods and devices for preparation and analysis of lipids.
Furthermore, my lab is also interested in studying herbal medicine. We are currently investigating the preventive and therapeutic effects of Chinese herbs on cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Read these publications to learn more about our research or click here to see all publications.
1. Kang JX, Wang J, Wu L, Kang ZB. Fat-1 transgenic mice convert n-6 to n-3 fatty acids.
Nature 2004; 427;504.
2. *Lai L, *Kang JX, Witt W, Wang J, Yong HY, Hao Y, Wax DM, Li R, Evans R, Starzl TE,
Prather RS and Dai Y. Cloned fat-1 transgenic pigs rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Nature
Biotechnology 2006;24:435-436. (*contributed equally)
3. Hudert CA, Weylandt KH, Lu Y, Wang J, Hong S, Dignass A, Serhan CN and Kang JX.
Transgenic mice rich in endogenous omega-3 fatty acids are protected from colitis.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 2006;103:11276-11281.
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