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Department of Surgery Department of Surgery
  1. Department of Surgery
  2. Divisions
  3. Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery
  4. Research
  5. Integrated Research Laboratories in Human Inflammation
  6. Human-Specific Genes

Taxonomically-Regulated Genes in Injury

In an era where sequencing of the human genome, and the genomes of many other species have been identified, the challenge remains: What genes are biomarkers of severe trauma and burn injury, and secondly, is there a functional role for these genes? We have focused on bioinformatic mining techniques in human leukocytes to identify and characterize orphan genes (i.e. genes with no known function) that encode ligands/peptide hormones. Here, our goal is to use such techniques to identify biomarkers and functional gene products that can be used to better understand the pathophysiology of multiple organ failure in trauma/burn patients. To this end, we have recently identified one such gene, Ecrg4, which encodes a membrane-anchored peptide, which is released upon injury, as a specific example of a gene that we de-orphanized with these techniques and has both clinical relevance and a functional role in the innate immune response.

Publication Highlights

Ecrg4 expression and its product augurin in the choroid plexus: impact on fetal brain development, cerebrospinal fluid homeostasis and neuroprogenitor cell response to CNS injury. Gonzalez AM, Podvin S, Lin S, Miller MC, Botfield H, Leadbeater WE, Roberton A, Dang X, Knowling SE, Cardenas-Galindo E, Donahue JE, Stopa EG, Johanson CE, Coimbra R, Eliceiri BP, Baird A. Fluids Barriers CNS 2011 Jan 18;8(1):6. PMCID: PMC3042980. 

Esophageal cancer-related gene-4 is a choroid plexus-derived injury response gene: evidence for a biphasic response in early and late brain injury. Podvin S, Gonzalez AM, Miller MC, Dang X, Botfield H, Donahue JE, Kurabi A, Boissaud-Cooke M, Rossi R, Leadbeater WE, Johanson C, Coimbra R, Stopa EG, Eliceiri BP, Baird A.  PLoS One 2011 6(9):e24609. PMCID: PMC3173480. 

Cell surface localization and release of the candidate tumor suppressor Ecrg4 from polymorphonuclear cells and monocytes activate macrophages. Baird A, Coimbra R, Dang X, Lopez N, Lee J, Krzyzaniak M, Winfield R, Potenza B, Eliceiri BP. J Leukoc Biol 2012 May;91(5):773-81. PMCID: PMC3336773. 

Cell-specific processing and release of the hormone-like precursor and candidate tumor suppressor gene product, Ecrg4. Dang X, Podvin S, Coimbra R, Eliceiri B, Baird A. Cell Tissue Res 2012 Jun;348(3):505-14. PMCID: PMC3367106. 

The candidate tumor suppressor gene Ecrg4 as a wound terminating factor in cutaneous injury. Shaterian A, Kao S, Chen L, di Pietro L, Coimbra R, Eliceiri BP, Baird A. Arch Dermatol Res 2012 Aug 17.