Bingliang Fang, M.D., Ph.D.

 

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Dr. Bingliang Fang was born in Zhejiang, China. He received a Doctor of Medicine from Zhejiang Medical University in 1982, and a Master of Medical Science from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Peking Union Medical College in Beijing in 1985. In 1989, Dr. Fang received a Ph.D. in Human and Genetic Medicine from Hamburg University in Germany, and then returned to the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Peking Union Medical College, where he was promoted to Associate Professor. In 1992, he joined the Department of Cell Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, as a Research Associate where he worked on gene therapy of genetic disorders. He joined The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, as an Assistant Professor and Assistant Biologist in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in 1995. Dr. Fang is a member of numerous professional societies, including the Chinese Medical Society and the American Association for Advancement of Science.

Information

Bingliang Fang, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Assistant Biologist
Co-Director, Institutional Vector Core Facility, W.M. Keck Center for Cancer Gene Therapy

Offices:

Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Box 445
Houston, TX 77030-4095
Phone: (713) 792-4039
Fax: (713) 794-4901
E-mail:bfang

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Education:

• Zhejiang Medical University, China, Doctor of Medicine, 1982
• Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China, M.M.S., Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, 1985
• Hamburg University, Germany, Ph.D., Human and Genetic Medicine, 1989

Society Memberships:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Association for Cancer Research
• Chinese Medical Society
• Chinese Association for Genetics

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Research Interests:

Gene therapy, gene expression regulation, genetic vectors

Development of gene therapy may make it possible to treat many supposedly incurable diseases, such as genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and cancers, with gene-based drugs. An efficient delivery system remains a key issue in the field of gene therapy. My research focuses on developing vectors for in vivo gene delivery. We have hypothesized that a viral gene could be inactivated by replacing its promoter with one that is active only in packaging cells. The feasibility of this hypothesis has been demonstrated by replacing the adenoviral E4 promoter with GAL4/TATA. The modified adenoviral vector showed diminished viral gene expression and viral replication in vitro and reduced vector toxicity and immunogenicity in vivo. Transgene expression is not affected in vitro in cultured cells and is prolonged in vivo in immunocompetent animals. Evaluation of GAL4/TATA in vivo also supports our hypothesis that viral genes can be inactivated by promoter replacement. Furthermore, the results suggest that combination of the GAL4 gene regulatory system and adenovirally mediated gene delivery may be sensitive tools for studying promoter activities and for augmenting transgene expression in vivo. Augmenting tumor-specific transgene expression with this system will be investigated in various tumor models. In addition, I am interested in developing targeted gene delivery systems and using immunologic agents for cancer gene therapy.

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• Curriculum Vitae
• W.M. Keck Center for Cancer Gene Therapy