Professional Bio
Qin Zhang, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She has a broad background in the cancer biology and exosome field, with specific training and expertise in biochemistry and molecular biology.
She is interested in functions of cargo in small extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles derived from a variety of cancer cells including colorectal cancer. She and research fellows researchers showed that KRAS can alter the metabolic state of the tumor microenvironment in a cell-nonautonomous fashion through secretion of exosomes that contain functional GLUT-1. Furthermore, using simplified method, she isolated a newly discovered extracellular nanoparticle called exomeres.
Dr. Zhang demonstrated for the first time that distinct functions of exomeres mediated by two of their cargo, the ?-galactoside ?2,6-sialyltransferase 1 (ST6Gal-I) that ?2,6- sialylates N-glycans, and the EGFR ligand, amphiregulin (AREG). Functional ST6Gal-I in exomeres can be transferred to cells, resulting in hypersialylation of recipient cell-surface proteins. AREG-containing exomeres elicit prolonged EGFR and downstream signaling, modulate EGFR trafficking in normal intestinal organoids, and dramatically enhance the growth of colonic tumor organoids. Furthermore, she discovered that ACE2, the receptor for SARS-COV-2, was present in small extracellular vesicles and exomeres and it can bind with S1 protein, proposing a decoy role for ACE2 containing sEVs and exomeres.
Recently, Dr. Zhang discovered a new extracellular nanoparticle, termed supermeres. Supermeres are morphologically distinct from exomeres with a markedly greater biodistribution in vivo compared to small extracellular vesicles and exomeres. This new nanoparticle can be detected in patient plasma using optimized flow cytometry and is highly enriched in cargo (miRNAs and proteins) involved in multiple cancers (glycolytic enzymes, TGFBI, miR-1246, MET, glypican-1, Ago2), Alzheimer's disease (APP) and cardiovascular disease (ACE2, ACE, PCSK9). Cancer-derived supermeres increase lactate secretion, transfer cetuximab-resistance, and in vivo decrease liver lipids and glycogen. This study identifies a new functional nanoparticle replete with potential circulating biomarkers and therapeutic targets that can be exploited for clinical benefit in a host of diseases.
Education
MS - Plant Physiology & Molecular Biology - Institute of Botany, 1998
PhD - Crop Sciences - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005
Fellowship - Post-doc - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007
Fellowship - Cell & Developmental Biology - Vanderbilt University, 2014
Contact
Email
Kimryn.Rathmell@Vumc.Org
Address
777 Preston Research Building
2220 Pierce Ave
Nashville, TN 37232-6307