Zhang Lab

About 

The most frequently diagnosed diseases are inflammation related diseases. Development of novel strategies to target delivery of therapeutic agents to inflammatory cells with minimum side effects would yield a new and practical therapeutic method for treatment of patients. The studies that we have conducted to date suggest several novel therapeutic approaches that could achieve these goals as summarized below. Chronic inflammation increases with age, causing the chronic low-grade inflammation that contributes to neurodegenerative disease, yet no effective therapy has been developed for prevention of brain inflammation during the aging process. My lab research focuses on the molecular mechanism(s) underlying how edible plant exosomes-like nanoparticles contribute to the inhibition of brain inflammation. A positive outcome for this study would be significant for the development of future products that provide a basis for developing mechanism-driven novel edible plant exosomes-like nanoparticles for prevention of chronic brain inflammation via non-invasive oral administration.  

Key Research Areas

• Exosomes mediated immune modulation in cancer and autoimmune diseases
• Edible plant exosomes-like nanoparticles mediated anti-inflammation
• Edible plant exosomes-like nanoparticles-based vector development fort targeting delivery of therapeutic agents
• Crosstalk Edible plant exosomes-like nanoparticles/gut microbiota/liver/brain/heart axis  

Current Projects

• Mechanisms underlying edible exosome-like nanoparticles for prevention of brain inflammation
• RA synovial fibroblast exosomes(RA-EXo) mediated bone erosion via AhR/TRAF2 pathway
• Plant exosomes non-coding RNA-mediated anti-inflammatory mechanism
• Fruit exosome-like particles for therapeutic delivery of extracellular miRNAs

Team 

• P.I. Huang-Ge Zhang, 502-852-8624 or 502-500-3993
• Staff: Jingyao Mu, Qingbo Xu;  yinan huang; Liwen Han (Visiting scholar) and Qiming Huang 

Recent Publications

• Teng T, Ren Y, Sayed M, Hu X, Lei C, Kumar A, Hutchins E, Mu J, Deng Z, Luo C, Sriwastva M, Zhang L, Hsieh M, Reiman R, Bodduluri H, Jun Y, Jala R, Miller D, Keuren-Jensen K, Merchant M, McClain C, Park J, Egilmez NK, and Zhang HG. Plant-derived exosomal microRNAs shape the gutmicrobiota. Cell Host &Microbe, 2018, 1934-6069 

• Wang Q, Zhuang X, Sriwastva M, Mu J, Teng Y, Deng Z, Zhang L, Sundaram K, Kumar A, Miller D, Yan J, and Zhang HG. Blood exosomes regulate the tissue distribution of grapefruit-derived nanovector via the CD36 and IGFR1 pathways, Theranostics, 2018, 8(18), 4912-4924  

• Sundaram K., et al, Zhang HG, Plant-Derived Exosomal Nanoparticles Inhibit Pathogenicity of Porphyromonas gingivalis, iScience, 2019, Nov 22;21:308-327. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.032. 

• Lei C, Mu J, Teng Y, He L, Xu F, Zhang X, Sundaram K, Kumar A, Sriwastva MK, Lawrenz MB, Zhang L, Yan J, Feng W, McClain CJ, Zhang X and Zhang HG. Lemon Exosome-like Nanoparticles-Manipulated Probiotics Protect Mice from C. diff Infection. iScience. 2020;23:101571. 

• Kumar A, Sundaram K, Mu J, Dryden GW, Sriwastva MK, Lei C, Zhang L, Qiu X, Xu F, Yan J, Zhang X, Park JW, Merchant ML, Bohler HCL, Wang B, Zhang S, Qin C, Xu Z, Han X, McClain CJ, Teng Y and Zhang HG. High-fat diet-induced upregulation of exosomal phosphatidylcholine contributes to insulin resistance. Nat Commun. 2021;12:213. 

• Lei C, Teng Y, He L, et al. Zhang HG. Lemon exosome-like nanoparticles enhance stress survival of gut bacteria by RNase P-mediated specific tRNA decay. iScience. 2021;24(6):102511. 

• Teng Y, Xu F, Zhang X, et al. Zhang HG. Plant-derived exosomal microRNAs inhibit lung inflammation induced by exosomes SARS-CoV-2 Nsp12. Mol Ther. 2021;29(8):2424-2440. 

• Kumar A, Ren Y, Sundaram K, et al. Zhang HG. miR-375 prevents high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance and obesity by targeting the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and bacterial tryptophanase (tnaA) gene. Theranostics. 2021;11(9):4061-4077. 

• Cong M, Tan S, Li S, et al Zhang HG… Technology insight: Plant-derived vesicles-How far from the clinical biotherapeutics and therapeutic drug carriers? Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2022;182:114108. 

• Kumar A, Sundaram K, Teng Y, et al. Zhang HG. Ginger nanoparticles mediated induction of Foxa2 prevents high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance. Theranostics. 2022;12(3):1388-1403. 

• Sriwastva MK, Deng ZB, Wang B, et al. Zhang HG. Exosome-like nanoparticles from Mulberry bark prevent DSS-induced colitis via the AhR/COPS8 pathway. EMBO Rep. 2022;23(3):e53365. 

• Sundaram K, Mu J, Kumar A, et al. Zhang HG. Garlic exosome-like nanoparticles reverse high-fat diet induced obesity via the gut/brain axis. Theranostics. 2022;12(3):1220-1246. 

• Teng Y, Mu J, Xu F, et al. Zhang HG. Gut bacterial isoamylamine promotes age-related cognitive dysfunction by promoting microglial cell death. Cell Host Microbe. 2022. Jul 13;30(7):944-960.e8 

• Xu F, Mu J, Teng Y, et al. Zhang HG. Restoring Oat Nanoparticles Mediated Brain Memory Function of Mice Fed Alcohol by Sorting Inflammatory Dectin-1 Complex Into Microglial Exosomes. Small. 2022;18(6):e2105385. 

• Sriwastva M, Teng Y, Mu J, Xu F, Kumar A, Sundaram K, Kumar R, Xu Q, Hood J, Zhang L, Yan J,  Merchant M, Park J, Dryden G, Egilmez N, and Zhang HG. Extracellular Vesicular Mutant KRAS-Associated Protein Complex Promotes Lung Inflammation and Tumor Growth. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. 2023, 12, e12307. 10.1002/jev2.12307. 

• Sundaram, K., Y. Teng, J. Mu, Q. Xu, F. Xu, M. K. Sriwastva, L. Zhang, J. W. Park, X. Zhang, J. Yan, S. Q. Zhang, M. L. Merchant, S. Y. Chen, C. J. McClain, G. W. Dryden, and H. G. Zhang. 2024. Outer Membrane Vesicles Released from Garlic Exosome-like Nanoparticles (GaELNs) Train Gut Bacteria that Reverses Type 2 Diabetes via the Gut-Brain Axis. Small: e2308680. 

• Xu, F., Y. Ren, Y. Teng, J. Mu, J. Tang, K. Sundaram, L. Zhang, J. W. Park, J. Y. Hwang, J. Yan, G. Dryden, and H. G. Zhang. 2024. Tryptophan As a New Member of RNA-Induced Silencing Complexes Prevents Colon Cancer Liver Metastasis. Adv Sci (Weinh) 11: e2307937