Education

2002, B.Sc., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University;

2007, Ph.D., Biology, Tsinghua University.

Professional Experience

2007-2012, Postdoctoral Fellow,UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas;

2012-2014, Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas;

2014-Present, Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University.

Research Area

In order to stay healthy, human bodies needto keep a perfect balance in energy metabolism. Imbalance in energy homeostasis will cause metabolic disorders, such as obesity, diabetes and anorexia nervosa.The focus of Zhao laboratory is to understand the underlying mechanism of these metabolic disorders. We will usebiochemical tools to identify new hormones that are involved in hunger and satiation, tissue culture to study regulation of hormone secretion, and mouse models to study physiological roles of thehunger and satiation hormones.

Selected Publications

1. McFarlane MR, Brown MS, Goldstein JL,Zhao TJ. (2014)Induced Ablation of Ghrelin Cells in Adult Mice Does Not Decrease Food Intake, Body Weight, or Response to High-Fat Diet.Cell Metab. 2014 May 14. pii: S1550-4131(14)00171-5.

2. Li RL, Sherbet DP, Elsbernd BL, Goldstein JL, Brown MS,Zhao TJ. (2012)Profound hypoglycemia in starved, ghrelin-deficient mice is caused by decreased gluconeogenesis and reversed by lactate or fatty acids.J Biol Chem. 2012, 287: 17942-17950

3.Zhao TJ, Sakata I, Li RL, Liang G, Richardson JA, Brown MS, Goldstein JL, Zigman JM. (2010) Ghrelin secretion stimulated by β1-adrenergic receptors in cultured ghrelinoma cells and in fasted mice.ProcNatlAcadSci U S A. 36:15868-15873 (From the cover)

4. Zhao TJ, Liang G, Li RL, Xie X, Sleeman MW, Murphy AJ, Valenzuela DM, Yancopoulos GD, Goldstein JL, Brown MS (2010) Ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) is essential for growth hormone-mediated survival of calorie-restricted mice. ProcNatlAcadSci U S A. 107:7467-7472 (From the cover)

5. Yang J,Zhao TJ, Goldstein JL, Brown MS. (2008) Inhibition of ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) by octanoylatedpentapeptides.ProcNatlAcadSci U S A. 05:10750-10755. (Co-first author)

6. Qi J, Gong J,Zhao TJ, Zhao J, Lam P, Ye J, Li JZ, Wu J, Zhou HM, Li P. (2008) Downregulation of AMP-activated protein kinase by Cidea-mediated ubiquitination and degradation in brown adipose tissue.EMBO J. 27:1537-1548. (Co-first author)

7.Zhao TJ, Yan YB, Liu Y, Zhou HM. (2007) The generation of oxidized form of creatine kinase is a negative control on muscle creatine kinase.J. Biol. Chem. 282: 12022-12029.

8.Zhao TJ, Sun S, Liu Y, Liu JM, Liu Q, Yan YB, Zhou HM. (2006) Regulating the drought-responsive element (DRE)-mediated signaling pathway by synergic functions of trans-active and trans-inactive DRE binding factors in Brassica napus.J. Biol. Chem. 281: 10752-10759.

9. Zhao TJ, Ou WB, Xie Q, Liu Y, Yan YB, Zhou HM. (2005) Catalysis of creatine kinase refolding by protein disulfide isomerase involves disulfide cross-link and dimer to tetramer switch.J. Biol. Chem. 280: 13470-13476.