TAM, Michael S.C.
Chairman / Professor
B.Sc. (1974) University of Toronto
MSc. (1976) University of Toronto
Ph.D. (1978) University of Toronto
Research Interests:
- Trichosanthin is a type I ribosome inactivating protein with antiviral activity.
It inhibits replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as well as Herpes
Simplex Virus (HSV). The mechanism is not known. Results found in this laboratory
support the hypothesis that trichosanthin selectively induce apoptosis in
viral infected cells while sparing uninfected cells. Infected cells die prematurely
and therefore limit viral replication. The mechanism appears to involve the
MAPK signal pathway.
Selected Publications: 
- Wang JH, Nie HL, Tam SC, Huang H, and Zheng YT; Anti-HIV-1 property of
trichosanthin correlates with its ribosome inactivating activity; FEBBS
Letter, 531, 295-298, 2002
- Wood Yee Chan, Hai Huang, and Siu-Cheung Tam; Receptor-mediated endocytosis
of trichosanthin in choriocarcinoma cells; Toxicology, 186, 191-203,
2003
- Wang JH, Nie HL, Huang H, Tam SC and Zheng YT; Independency of anti-HIV-1
activity from ribosome-inactivating activity of trichosanthin; BBRC
302(1), 89-94, 2003
- Wang Jian-hua, Tam Michael SC, Huang Hai, Ouyang Dong-yun, Wang Yuan-yuan
and Zheng Yong-tang; Site-directed PEGylation of trichosanthin retained its
anti-HIV activity with reduced potency in vitro; BBRC, 317, 965-971,
2004
- Wang YY, Ouyang DY, Huang H, Chan H, Tam SC and Zheng YT; Enhanced apoptotic
action of trichosanthin and HIV-1 infected cells; BBRC 331, 1075-1080,
2005
- Zhang GH, Wang Q, Chen JJ, Zhang XM, Tam SC and Zheng YT; The Anti-HIV
effect of Scutellarin; BBRC 334, 812-816, 2005
- Herman Chan & Siu-Cheung Tam; Role of blood transfusion in trichosanthin
induced anaphylaxis; Environmental Toxicology & Pharmacology:
20, 73-76, 2005
- Ouyang DY, Chan H, Wang YY, Huang H, Tam SC and Zheng YT; An inhibitor of
c-Jun N-terminal kinases (CEP-11004) counteracts the anti-HIV-1 action of
trichosanthin; BBRC 339, 25-29, 2006
- Hai Huang, Herman Chan, Yuan-Yuan Wang, Dong-Yun Ouyang, Yong-Tang Zheng,
and Siu-Cheung Tam; Trichosanthin suppresses the elevation of p38 MAPK, and
Bcl-2 induced by HSV infection in Vero cells; Life Sciences 79, 1287-1292,
2006
