Ba-Bie Teng, Ph.D. 1987, McGill University UT-Houston Institute of Molecular Medicine Research Center for Human Genetics Contact Information

Research Interests: Gene therapy, vector development, atherosclerosis, RNA editing.

My research interests encompass the elucidation of molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis and the development of genetic therapy for the management of lipid disorders and the treatment of vascular diseases.

Our laboratory has generated different animal models for the study in atherosclerosis. We have demonstrated that overexpression of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme virtually eliminates the production of LDL. We designed Hammerhead Ribozyme targeted at apolipoprotein B mRNA, which cleaves the mRNA and decreases the mRNA levels by 80%. Currently, our research focuses on co-expressing multiple genes using a helper-dependent adenovirus vector (HD-Ad). We are developing improved adeno-associated virus vector (AAV) to sustain the gene expression in the liver. We are also designing small interference RNA (siRNA) targeted at genes influencing lipid metabolism to regulate the gene expression. Furthermore, we have used animals susceptible to atherogenesis and applied microarray technology to identify candidate gene(s) associated with the pathogenesis of this disease. Another area of our research is on RNA editing, we have extended our interest to explore the relationship of RNA editing on RNA stability.

A tutorial in my laboratory would provide experience in construction and production of vectors. microarray technology, mouse genetics, lipoprotein metabolism, and vascular biology.
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Teng BB, Burant CF, Davidson NO (1993). Molecular cloning of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing protein (Apobec1). Science 260:1816-1819.

Teng BB, Ishida B, Forte TM, Blumenthal S, Song LZ, Gotto AM Jr, Chan L (1997). Effective lowering of plasma and LDL cholesterol and esterified cholesterol in LDL receptor knock-out mice by adenovirus-mediated gene delivery of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme (Apobec1). Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 17:880-897.

Teng BB, Ochsner S, Zhang Q, Soman KV, Lau PP, Chan L (1999). Mutational analysis of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme (Apobec1): Structural-function relationships of RNA editing and dimerization. J Lipid Res 40:623-635.

Wang JP, Enjoji M, Tiebel M, Ochsner S, Chan L, Teng BB (1999). Hammerhead ribozyme cleavage of apolipoprotein B mRNA generates a truncated protein. J Biol Chem 274: 24161-24170.

Enjoji M, Wang F, Makato M, Chan L, and Teng BB (2000). Hammerhead ribozyme as a therapeutic tool for hyperlipidemia: Production of truncated apolipoprotein B and Hypolipidemic effects in a dyslipidemia murine model. Human Gene Therapy. 11. 2415-2430.

Ranjan Dutta, Uma Singh, Tong-Bin Li, Myriam Fornage, and Ba-Bie Teng. (2003). Hepatic gene expression profiling reveals perturbed calcium signaling in a mouse model lacking both LDL receptor and Apobec1 genes. Atherosclerosis. 169:51-62

Uma Singh, Shumei Zhong, Momiao Xiong, Tong-bin Li, Allan Sniderman, and Ba-Bie Teng (2004). Increased plasma nonesterified fatty acids and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolas are associated with susceptibility to atherosclerosis in mice. Accepted, in revision.

Shumei Zhong, Chichi Liu, David Haviland, Uma Singh, and Ba-Bie Teng. Combined benefits of co-expressing both SR-BI and Apobec1 genes using a Helper-Dependent Adenoviral Vector. Submitted 2003

Program Affiliations:
Program in Molecular Pathology
Program in Virology and Gene Therapy