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January 8, 2010

ULM pharmacy professor’s research highlighted by ASBMB Today

The December issue of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Today highlights the research work of Dr. Yong-Yu Liu, an assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

ASBMB Today is a high-standard journal for members of American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Besides introducing member achievements, each issue highlights four of the most important works published among three other journals, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Lipid Research and Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.

The work of Dr. Liu was first published Oct. 13, 2009 in the online publication of Journal of Lipid Research. The article is titled, “Direct Quantitative determination of ceramide glycosylation in vivo: a new approach to evaluate ceramide enzyme activity of glucosylceramide synthase.”

Liu said the study demonstrated for the first time that researchers could analyze enzyme in cells or tissues, instead of extracted proteins. The study’s publication in ASBMB Today recognizes that Dr. Liu’s work has high impact on the concept and techniques of enzyme study.

“Since enzymes are involved in all procedures of life and diseases, this study may lead us deeply understand the role of enzyme, such as testing the activity of glucosylceramide synthase to diagnose cancer drug resistance,” said Liu.

Liu credited his progress on the study to the support of the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network and the research of ULM graduate students, Vineet Gupta of Chhatapur, India, and Gauri Patwardhan of Mumbai/Pilani, India.

"We are very proud of the work of Dr. Liu and his graduate students,” said Interim College of Pharmacy Dean Greg Leader.

“The College of Pharmacy and the Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences strive for excellence in both education and research, and the highlighting of this work by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology demonstrates the quality and importance of the work done by faculty and students in our College,” said Leader.

Dr. Qian-Jin Zhang of the LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Dr. Myles Cabot of the John Wayne Cancer Institute and Dr. S. Michal Jazwinski of Tulane University School of Medicine also contributed to the collaborative work.

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