Shen, Jianjun

Shen, Jianjun Ph.D.

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Research Interests

Proteomics, 2-D gel electrophoresis, biological markers, pancreatic cancer

Current Research

As Director of the Molecular Biology Resource Center of the Department of Carcinogenesis, and Director of Facility Core 1 of the Center for Research on Environmental Disease (CRED), I consult, advise and collaborate with about fifty faculty members. My research efforts focus on the development and utilization of molecular biology and proteomic techniques to study cancer and other environmental disease. In particular, I have spearheaded Science Park-Research Division’s effort to establish proteomics-related technologies. My approach is to utilize abundance protein depletion, low abundance protein enrichment, protein separation by 2-D gel electrophoresis and/or liquid chromatography to characterize genetic models of carcinogenesis that have been developed in the Department. I also use these techniques to study human cancers (such as colon, lung and pancreatic) for the discovery of biomarkers. The following are two examples of many collaborative research projects on which I have been working:

Pancreatic cancer has a very poor prognosis and represents the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths for both men and women in the United States. Despite the recent accumulation of a large body of data regarding molecular characterization of the disease, to date no biomarkers have emerged for effective diagnosis and treatment. Collaborating with Drs. Donghui Li (Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology) and Maria Person (The University of Texas-Austin), I employ a proteomic approach (including but not limited to abundance protein depletion, and enrichment of glycoproteins and/or phosphoproteins, and 2-D gel electrophoresis) followed by mass spectrometry to identify potential biomarker(s) from the tissue and plasma samples of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, chronic pancreatitis, and the normal pancreas. We have so far identified over 40 differentially expressed proteins between pancreatic cancer patients and controls. Some of the identified proteins are currently under evaluation for the discovery of pancreatic cancer biomarker(s).

Genetic susceptibility to two-stage skin carcinogenesis is known to vary significantly among different stocks and strains of mice. In collaboration with Drs. John DiGiovanni and Joe Angel (both from the Department of Carcinogenesis) in an effort to identify specific proteins associated with tumor promotion susceptibility to the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), I have employed a proteomic approach of 2D gel and mass spectrometry to examine and identify proteins that are differentially expressed between promotion-sensitive DBA/2 and promotion-resistant C57BL/6 mice following TPA treatment. This approach identified many interesting proteins differentially expressed in TPA-treated epidermis between these two strains of mice. Of these, three calcium-binding proteins, S100A8, S100A9 and S100A11, were overexpressed in epidermis of promotion sensitive DBA/2 mice. The functional significance of the differential expression of the calcium-binding proteins, especially S100A8 and S100A9, and other identified proteins between promotion-sensitive DBA/2 and promotion-resistant C57BL/6 mice following TPA treatment are currently under investigation.

Selected Publications

  1. Chan KS, Sano S, Kataoka K, Abel E, Carbajal S, Beltran L, Clifford J, Peavey M, Shen J, Digiovanni J. Forced expression of a constitutively active form of Stat3 in mouse epidermis enhances malignant progression of skin tumors induced by two-stage carcinogenesis, Oncogene, 27 (8), 1087-94, 2008
  2. Yan M, Shen J, Person MD, Kuang X, Lynn WS, Atlas D, Wong PK. Endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response in atm-deficient thymocytes and thymic lymphoma cells are attributable to oxidative stress, Neoplasia, 10 (2), 160-7, 2008
  3. Morrison AJ, Kim JA, Person MD, Highland J, Xiao J, Wehr TS, Hensley S, Bao Y, Shen J, Collins SR, Weissman JS, Delrow J, Krogan NJ, Haber JE, Shen X. Mec1/Tel1 Phosphorylation of the INO80 Chromatin Remodeling Complex Influences DNA Damage Checkpoint Responses, Cell, 130 (3), 499-511, 2007
  4. Shen J, Pavone A, Mikulec C, Hensley SC, Traner A, Chang TK, Person MD, Fischer SM. Protein expression profiles in the epidermis of cyclooxygenase-2 transgenic mice by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, J Proteome Res, 6 (1), 273-86, 2007
  5. Shen J, Riggs PK, Hensley SC, Schroeder LJ, Traner AR, Kochan KJ, Person MD, Digiovanni J. Differential expression of multiple anti-apoptotic proteins in epidermis of IGF-1 transgenic mice as revealed by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis/mass spectrometry analysis, Mol Carcinog, 46 (5), 331-40, 2007
  6. Zhu F, Xia X, Liu B, Shen J, Hu Y, Person M, Hu Y. IKKalpha shields 14-3-3sigma, a G(2)/M cell cycle checkpoint gene, from hypermethylation, preventing its silencing, Mol Cell, 27 (2), 214-27, 2007
  7. Liu B, Park E, Zhu F, Bustos T, Liu J, Shen J, Fischer SM, Hu Y. A critical role for I kappaB kinase alpha in the development of human and mouse squamous cell carcinomas, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103 (46), 17202-7, 2006
  8. Shen J, Person MD, Zhu J, Abbruzzese JL, Li D. Protein expression profiles in pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared with normal pancreatic tissue and tissue affected by pancreatitis as detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, Cancer Res, 64 (24), 901e deficiency and other fatty acid oxidation disorders, J Inherit Metab Dis, 23 (1), 27-44, 2000

Contact Information


Mailing Address: P.O. Box 389, Smithville, Texas 78957
Physical Address: 1808 Park Road 1C, Smithville, Texas 78957
Phone: (512) 237-9577