Positions
- Associate Professor
-
Pediatrics-Nutrition, Medicine, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US
- Member
-
Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Associate Professor
-
Children's Nutrition Research Center
Houston, Texas United States
- Associate Professor
-
Medicine
Diabetes and Endocrinology
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Houston, Texas United States
- Associate Professor
-
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Houston, Texas United States
Education
- PhD from Ohio State University
- 06/1997 - Columbus, OH United States
- BS from University Of Science and Technology of China
- 06/1987 - Hefei, Anhui China
- MS from Shanghai Institute Of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Science
- 06/1990 - Shanghai, Shanghai China
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health
- 10/2002 - Boston, Massachusetts United States
Professional Interests
- Molecular mechanism of life span extension by caloric restriction
- Adipose formation and function during obesity and diabetes
- Muscle, heart and liver metabolism
Professional Statement
The main focus of our research is to study the molecular mechanism of caloric restriction, which extends animal life span and reduces the onset of obesity, diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration and cardiovascular diseases. The study of the molecular mechanism of caloric restriction may lead to pharmaceutical treatments that may mimic caloric restriction’s beneficial effects. Sir2 gene, which encodes a NAD+-dependent protein deacetylase, was reported to mediate the effect of caloric restriction in yeast. We have demonstrated that the expressions of two of the seven mammalian Sir2 homologues, SIRT2 and SIRT3, are up-regulated in response to dietary restriction, cold exposure and oxidative stress. We have illustrated the molecular mechanism of SIRT2’s action in oxidative stress resistance and the inhibition of adipocyte formation. We have also shown how SIRT3 activates adaptive thermogenesis program in brown adipose tissue and how SIRT3 regulates glucose disposal and fat oxidation in skeletal muscle. To understand the underlying molecular mechanisms, we have identified several substrate proteins for SIRT2 and SIRT3. Research is under way to investigate the actions of sirtuins in gain or loss-of-function animal models.Another research direction we take is to study the development of adipose tissue and its changes during obesity. By investigating how mature adipocytes are derived from multi-potent precursor cells, we can gain insight into obesity prevention. In addition, by studying how factors produced by adipocytes and adipose tissue influence whole body metabolism, we may learn how obesity causes insulin resistance and subsequent type-2 diabetes. We have revealed that the expression of the PU.1 transcription factor is increased by obesity in visceral but not subcutaneous adipose tissues. We further found that in adipocytes, PU.1 up-regulates the generation of free radicals and pro-inflammatory cytokines to suppress insulin signaling. We are currently exploring the possibility to ameliorate obesity-associated metabolic dysfunction by targeting the PU.1 pathway.
Websites
Selected Publications
- Qiang Tong, Gökhan Dalgin, Haiyan Xu, Chao-Nan Ting, Jeffrey M. Leiden and Gökhan S. Hotamisligil "Function of GATA transcription factors in preadipocyte-adipocyte transition.." Science. 2000 October ; 290 : 134-138. Pubmed PMID: 11021798
- Qiang Tong, Judy Tsai, Guo Tan, Gökhan Dalgin, and Gökhan S. Hotamisligil "Interaction Between GATA and the C/EBP Family of Transcription Factors is Critical in GATA-Mediated Suppression of Adipocyte Differentiation." Mol Cell Biol. 2005 January ; 25 (2): 706-715. Pubmed PMID: 15632071
- Wang F, Nguyen M, Qin FX, Tong Q "SIRT2 deacetylates FOXO3a in response to oxidative stress and caloric restriction.." Aging Cell. 2007 August ; 6 (4): 505-14. Pubmed PMID: 17521387
- Wang F, Tong Q "Transcription factor PU.1 is expressed in white adipose and inhibits adipocyte differentiation.." Am. J. Physiol., Cell Physiol.. 2008 July ; 295 (1): C213-20. Pubmed PMID: 18463231
- Julia Skokowa, Dan Lan, Basant Kumar Thakur, Fei Wang, Kshama Gupta, Gunnar Cario, Annette Muller Brechlin, Axel Schambach, Lars Hinrichsen, Gustav Meyer, Matthias Gaestel, Martin Stanulla, Qiang Tong and Karl Welte "NAMPT is essential for the G-CSF-induced myeloid differentiation via a NAD+-sirtuin-1-dependent pathway." Nat Med. 2009 February ; 15 (2): 151-158. Pubmed PMID: 19182797
- Wang F, Tong Q "SIRT2 suppresses adipocyte differentiation by deacetylating FOXO1 and enhancing FOXO1's repressive interaction with PPARgamma.." Mol. Biol. Cell. 2009 February ; 20 (3): 801-8. Pubmed PMID: 19037106
- Palacios OM, Carmona JJ, Michan S, Chen KY, Manabe Y, Ward JL, Goodyear LJ, Tong Q "Diet and exercise signals regulate SIRT3 and activate AMPK and PGC-1alpha in skeletal muscle.." Aging (Albany NY). 2009 September ; 1 (9): 771-83. Pubmed PMID: 20157566
- Yang Y, Cimen H, Han MJ, Shi T, Deng JH, Koc H, Palacios OM, Montier L, Bai Y, Tong Q, Koc EC "NAD+-dependent deacetylase SIRT3 regulates mitochondrial protein synthesis by deacetylation of the ribosomal protein MRPL10.." J. Biol. Chem.. 2010 March 5; 285 (10): 7417-29. Pubmed PMID: 20042612
- Yang Y, Hubbard BP, Sinclair DA, Tong Q "Characterization of murine SIRT3 transcript variants and corresponding protein products.." J. Cell. Biochem.. 2010 November 1; 111 (4): 1051-8. Pubmed PMID: 20677216
- Wang F, Chan CH, Chen K, Guan X, Lin HK, Tong Q "Deacetylation of FOXO3 by SIRT1 or SIRT2 leads to Skp2-mediated FOXO3 ubiquitination and degradation.." Oncogene. 2012 March 22; 31 (12): 1546-57. Pubmed PMID: 21841822
- Lin L, Pang W, Chen K, Wang F, Gengler J, Sun Y, Tong Q "Adipocyte expression of PU.1 transcription factor causes insulin resistance through upregulation of inflammatory cytokine gene expression and ROS production.." Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab.. 2012 June ; 302 (12): E1550-9. Pubmed PMID: 22454293
- Tong Shi, Fei Wang, Emily Stieren, and Qiang Tong "SIRT3, A Mitochondrial Sirtuin Deacetylase, Regulates Mitochondrial Function And Thermogenesis In Brown Adipocytes." J Biol Chem. 2005 April ; 280 (14): 13560-13567. Pubmed PMID: 15653680
- Serrano L, Martínez-Redondo P, Marazuela-Duque A, Vazquez BN, Dooley SJ, Voigt P, Beck DB, Kane-Goldsmith N, Tong Q, Rabanal RM, Fondevila D, Muñoz P, Krüger M, Tischfield JA, Vaquero A. "The tumor suppressor SirT2 regulates cell cycle progression and genome stability by modulating the mitotic deposition of H4K20 methylation.." Genes and Development. 2013 27 (6): 639-653. Pubmed PMID: 23468428
- Ligen Lin, Keyun Chen, Waed Abdel Khalek, Jack Lee Ward III, Henry Yang, Béatrice Chabi, Chantal Wrutniak-Cabello, Qiang Tong "Regulation of skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and muscle mass by SIRT3." PLOS One. 2014 9 (1): e85636. Pubmed PMID: 24454908
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