Genomics Division West

Jan-Fang Cheng Staff Scientist JFCheng@lbl.gov Mailstop: 84-171 Publications

One of the challenges in the post genomic sequencing is to identify islands of novel functional elements in a sea of sequence information. One of the focuses in the lab is to develop genomic reagents and tools to facilitate the identification of these functional elements. The reagents include BAC libraries, mapped BAC contigs, targeted sequence comparison across many species, etc. We have also developed computational infrastructure to streamline the generation and interpretation of sequence data. One of such efforts involves the construction of a human chromosome 5 BAC map. Integration of clones, genes, STSs, genetic markers, and cross-species sequence comparison has enabled researchers to develop hypothesis driven studies to discover key regulatory elements and diseases related genes. My lab is also involved in the acquisition of orthologous human/mouse and other mammalian genomic sequence for a set of cardiovascular disease genes.

Another research interest in the lab is to study regulation of mammalian genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. Cholesterol plays an important role in many cellular functions. These functions include biosynthesis of cell membrane, steroid hormones, and bile acids. Excess cholesterol or lack of HDL cholesterol, however, will lead to diseases such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. We are especially interested in the regulatory mechanism of cholesterol transporter genes, also known as the gate keepers of cellular cholesterol trafficking.