Jen-Fu Chiu, Ph.D.

Professor of Biochemistry

Director of Graduate Studies in Biochemistry

Director of Cancer Biology Training Program

Background

Dr. Chiu received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1972 from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, where he studied DNA polymerases in the developing brain. He obtained postdoctoral training at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas, where he became interested in chromatin structure and gene regulation, and the cell and molecular biology of cancer. In 1974, he was promoted to faculty member at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in the Department of Biochemistry. He moved to Vanderbilt University in 1975 to take a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry. In 1978, he came to the University of Vermont and is now a Professor of Biochemistry.

Research

The major focus of research in my laboratory is to study the regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells during cell differentiation, neoplastic transformation and programmed cell death. Four major areas of research are being carried out in my laboratory. One of the projects is to study the regulation of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (AFP) gene expression in hepatoma cells and in liver during hepatocarcinogenesis. This project includes studies to localize and characterize the regulatory sequences of the AFP gene by transient expression assays with various AFP-CAT fusion gene constructs. After the cis-elements are clearly defined, the next goal will be to identify the regulatory trans-acting factors. The second project is to identify and characterize tumor-associated nuclear proteins (nuclear matrix proteins) and to study their effect on gene expression during hepatocarcinogenesis. The third project is to investigate the association between altered retinoic acid receptor (RAR) transcriptional activities and mammary epithelial cell carcinogenesis. The effect of RAR-beta on the retinoic acid-induced growth inhibition (and cell apoptosis) in breast cancer cells will be determined. The fourth project is to examine the mechanisms of growth inhibitory effects of anti-breast cancer agents including tamoxifen, retinoic acids and vitamin D3. The combination of their effects on the breast cancer death (apoptosis) and causes of cell death will be investigated.

Selected Publications (selected from total of 140 full length papers)

• Zhang, X.K., Dong, J.M. and Chiu, J.F. Regulation of alpha-fetoprotein gene expression by antagonism between AP-1 and the glucocorticoid receptor at their overlapping binding site. J. Biol. Chem. 266:8248, (1991).
• Fukuda, K., Kojiro, M. and Chiu, J.F. Demonstration of extensive chromatin cleavage in transplanted Morris hepatoma 7777 tissue: apoptosis or necrosis? Amer. J. Pathology 142:935 (1993).
• Fukuda, K., Kojiro, M. and Chiu, J.F., Induction of apoptosis by transforming growth factor-beta 1 in the rat hepatoma cell line McA-RH7777: a possible association with tissue transglutaminase expression. Hepatology 18: 945, (1993).
• Liu, Y. and Chiu, J.F., Transactivation and repression of alpha-fetoprotein gene promoter by retinoid X receptor and chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor. Nucleic Acids Res. 22: 1079, (1994).
• Liu, Y., Chen, H. and Chiu, J.F., Identification of a retinoic acid response element at upstream of the rat alpha-fetoprotein gene. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 103:149, (1994).
• Liu, Y., Chen, H., Dong, J.-M. and Chiu, J.F., Cis-acting elements in 5'-flanking region of rat alpha-fetoprotein mediating retinoic acid responsiveness. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 205:656, (1994)
• Chen, H., Tritton, T., Kenny, N., Absher, M. and Chiu, J.F., Tamoxifen induces TGF-beta 1 activity and apoptosis of human MCF-7 breast cancer cells in vitro. J. Cell. Biochem. (in press)
• Krajewska, W.M., Chen, H., Xie, R. and Chiu, J.F., Nonhistone protein reorganization in normal and hepatoma cells. Cancer Biochem. Biophys. (in press).