| Ah-Ng Tony Kong |
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Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics Director, Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Science
B. S. (Pharmacy): University of Alberta |
| Research Interests Prevention of Diseases including Cancer by Dietary Phytochemicals (signaling, gene expression and in vivo pharmacological effects); Pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics of cancer chemopreventive compounds, MAP Kinases / Nrf2 transcription factor-mediated gene expression, and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodyanmics of drug action. The research of my laboratory is to study two important cellular signaling pathways, the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and the caspases pathways activated by these compounds as well as environmental agents and chemotherapeutic drugs. One of the downstream targets that are modulated by chemopreventive agents-induced MAPK signaling is the bZIP transcription factors Nrf2/Maf which induce cellular defensive enzymes via the antioxidant response element (ARE). Our lab had shown that various MAPK proteins modulate the transcriptional activity of Nrf2 on ARE-luciferase reporter gene leading gene to expression of cellular defense enzymes such as heme-oxygenase-1 and Phase II drug metabolizing enzymes. Our approach to investigate various chemopreventive agents are to combine biochemical and molecular biology in cell cultures combined with appropriate in vivo animal models for human cancers of colon and prostate. Ongoing projects focus on: (i) Chemoprevention of cancer: Preclinical and clinical studies of chemopreventive agents; (ii) Drug metabolism: Biochemistry, pharmacology and regulation of gene expression of drug metabolizing enzymes (cytochrome P450s and phase II enzymes) in relationship to carcinogenesis and chemoprevention; (iii) Cellular signal transduction: MAPK; ERK, JNK, p38 in regulation of gene expression in cell survival and apoptosis; (iv) Apoptosis: Role of caspases, TRAIL and death receptors (DRs) in apoptosis; (v) Pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics; (vi) Pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of anti-cancer drugs (preventive and chemotherapeutics) and environmental agents; and (vii) Prostate cancer: Biology, signaling, prevention and therapy. |
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Department of
Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
160-Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8022, USA.
Tel: (732) 445-3831 ext 226/228; Fax: (732) 445-3134
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Last Updated: 08/01/2007