Xiao-kun Zhang

Biography

Xiao-kun Zhang earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Vermont in 1989. Dr. Zhang spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at SBP prior to his appointment to the faculty in 1992. Dr. Xiao-kun Zhang studies the chemopreventive and therapeutic effects of Vitamin A and its synthetic analogs in various cancers and other diseases. He discovered a new vitamin A signaling pathway through RXR protein complexes. An agent that modulates RXR activities has been approved by the FDA for treating lymphoma patients and is now in phase III clinical trial for lung cancer.

Research Interest

Dr. Zhang also found that a gene that binds Vitamin A (called RARb) acts as a tumor suppressor. His group studies how RARb prevents tumor development. They recently discovered a new paradigm for destroying cancer cells using a protein called TR3, or Nur77. TR3 is often present at high levels in cancer cells to promote their growth in the nucleus. Dr. Zhang recently showed that he is able to move TR3 from the nucleus to the mitochondria. In mitochondria, TR3 binds to Bcl-2, a protein that maintains tumor growth. The binding converts Bcl-2 from a tumor protector to a tumor destroyer. Dr. Zhang's laboratory is now exploring the possibility of treating cancer patients using a class of specific agents that induce TR3 migration