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Jong Yun
Title Associate Professor
Institution College of Medicine
Department Pharmacology
Address 500 University Drive Hershey PA 17033
Mailbox: R130
Telephone 7175311508
Email
Background
PREFERRED TITLE/ROLE:

Associate Professor of Pharmacology

SECONDARY APPOINTMENT(S)/ INSTITUTE(S)/ CENTER(S):

Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Jake Gittlen Cancer Research Foundation, The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

GRADUATE PROGRAM AFFILIATIONS:

Biomedical Sciences: Translational Therapeutics, Pharmacology, Integrative Biosciences: Molecular Toxicology,

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, 1996
Postdoctoral Training, Molecular Cardiovascular Research Center at Case Western Reserve University, 1996-1998

NARRATIVE:

Development of Sphingosine Kinase (SphK) Inhibitors as Anti-Cancer Therapeutic Agents

Our research group is currently pursuing three separate projects that are centered around the development of therapeutic agents that specifically target SphK. The first project, “target identification”, combines biochemistry and cell and molecular biology techniques to determine the signaling mechanisms associated with the functional role of SphK in normal and cancerous cells. The second project, “target validation”, is closely associated with the physiological and/or pathological functions of SphK. To validate SphK as a therapeutic target, we currently have on-going studies in collaboration with other investigators including clinicians (i.e., oncologist, pathologist). The third project, “proof-of-concept” studies centers around the development of novel disease-specific and effective therapeutic approaches by targeting SphK. In this regard, we have already identified and refined novel SphK inhibitors (SKIs) by screening libraries of synthetic compounds. Currently, we have several on-going “proof-of-concept” studies in collaboration with other investigators who have expertise medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, and in vivo mouse model systems.
Publications
1. Hengst JA, Yun JK. Sphingosine kinase: a key to solving the 'French Paradox'? Br J Pharmacol. 2012 Jul; 166(5):1603-4.
  View in: PubMed
 
2. Mahmoud S, Yun JK, Ruiz-Velasco V. Gß2 and Gß4 participate in the opioid and adrenergic receptor-mediated Ca2+ channel modulation in rat sympathetic neurons. J Physiol. 2012 Oct 1; 590(Pt 19):4673-89.
  View in: PubMed
 
3. Madhunapantula SV, Hengst J, Gowda R, Fox TE, Yun JK, Robertson GP. Targeting sphingosine kinase-1 to inhibit melanoma. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2012 Mar; 25(2):259-74.
  View in: PubMed
 
4. Sk UH, Prakasha Gowda AS, Crampsie MA, Yun JK, Spratt TE, Amin S, Sharma AK. Development of novel naphthalimide derivatives and their evaluation as potential melanoma therapeutics. Eur J Med Chem. 2011 Aug; 46(8):3331-8.
  View in: PubMed
 
5. O'Neill SM, Yun JK, Fox TE, Kester M. Transcriptional regulation of the human neutral ceramidase gene. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2011 Jul; 511(1-2):21-30.
  View in: PubMed
 
6. O'Neill SM, Houck KL, Yun JK, Fox TE, Kester M. AP-1 binding transcriptionally regulates human neutral ceramidase. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2011 Jul; 511(1-2):31-9.
  View in: PubMed
 
7. Hengst JA, Wang X, Sk UH, Sharma AK, Amin S, Yun JK. Development of a sphingosine kinase 1 specific small-molecule inhibitor. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2010 Dec 15; 20(24):7498-502.
  View in: PubMed
 
8. Hengst JA, Guilford JM, Conroy EJ, Wang X, Yun JK. Enhancement of sphingosine kinase 1 catalytic activity by deletion of 21 amino acids from the COOH-terminus. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2010 Feb 1; 494(1):23-31.
  View in: PubMed
 
9. Hengst JA, Guilford JM, Fox TE, Wang X, Conroy EJ, Yun JK. Sphingosine kinase 1 localized to the plasma membrane lipid raft microdomain overcomes serum deprivation induced growth inhibition. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2009 Dec; 492(1-2):62-73.
  View in: PubMed
 
10. Morgan TT, Muddana HS, Altinoglu EI, Rouse SM, Tabakovic A, Tabouillot T, Russin TJ, Shanmugavelandy SS, Butler PJ, Eklund PC, Yun JK, Kester M, Adair JH. Encapsulation of organic molecules in calcium phosphate nanocomposite particles for intracellular imaging and drug delivery. Nano Lett. 2008 Dec; 8(12):4108-15.
  View in: PubMed
 
11. Zhang R, Shah MV, Yang J, Nyland SB, Liu X, Yun JK, Albert R, Loughran TP. Network model of survival signaling in large granular lymphocyte leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Oct 21; 105(42):16308-13.
  View in: PubMed
 
12. Bayerl MG, Bruggeman RD, Conroy EJ, Hengst JA, King TS, Jimenez M, Claxton DF, Yun JK. Sphingosine kinase 1 protein and mRNA are overexpressed in non-Hodgkin lymphomas and are attractive targets for novel pharmacological interventions. Leuk Lymphoma. 2008 May; 49(5):948-54.
  View in: PubMed
 
13. Itagaki K, Yun JK, Hengst JA, Yatani A, Hauser CJ, Spolarics Z, Deitch EA. Sphingosine 1-phosphate has dual functions in the regulation of endothelial cell permeability and Ca2+ metabolism. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2007 Oct; 323(1):186-91.
  View in: PubMed
 
14. Francy JM, Nag A, Conroy EJ, Hengst JA, Yun JK. Sphingosine kinase 1 expression is regulated by signaling through PI3K, AKT2, and mTOR in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2007 Apr; 1769(4):253-65.
  View in: PubMed
 
15. Fox TE, Houck KL, O'Neill SM, Nagarajan M, Stover TC, Pomianowski PT, Unal O, Yun JK, Naides SJ, Kester M. Ceramide recruits and activates protein kinase C zeta (PKC zeta) within structured membrane microdomains. J Biol Chem. 2007 Apr 27; 282(17):12450-7.
  View in: PubMed
 
16. French KJ, Upson JJ, Keller SN, Zhuang Y, Yun JK, Smith CD. Antitumor activity of sphingosine kinase inhibitors. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2006 Aug; 318(2):596-603.
  View in: PubMed
 
17. Reese BE, Krissinger D, Yun JK, Billingsley ML. Elucidation of stannin function using microarray analysis: implications for cell cycle control. Gene Expr. 2006; 13(1):41-52.
  View in: PubMed
 
18. Davidson CE, Reese BE, Billingsley ML, Yun JK. The protein stannin binds 14-3-3zeta and modulates mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 2005 Aug 18; 138(2):256-63.
  View in: PubMed
 
19. Lee C, Xu DZ, Feketeova E, Kannan KB, Yun JK, Deitch EA, Fekete Z, Livingston DH, Hauser CJ. Attenuation of shock-induced acute lung injury by sphingosine kinase inhibition. J Trauma. 2004 Nov; 57(5):955-60.
  View in: PubMed
 
20. Davidson CE, Reese BE, Billingsley ML, Yun JK. Stannin, a protein that localizes to the mitochondria and sensitizes NIH-3T3 cells to trimethyltin and dimethyltin toxicity. Mol Pharmacol. 2004 Oct; 66(4):855-63.
  View in: PubMed
 
21. French KJ, Schrecengost RS, Lee BD, Zhuang Y, Smith SN, Eberly JL, Yun JK, Smith CD. Discovery and evaluation of inhibitors of human sphingosine kinase. Cancer Res. 2003 Sep 15; 63(18):5962-9.
  View in: PubMed
 
22. Yun JK, Kester M. Regulatory role of sphingomyelin metabolites in hypoxia-induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2002 Dec 1; 408(1):78-86.
  View in: PubMed
 
 
Keyword
Last Name
Institution
    
 
 
 
Co-Authors  
Billingsley, Melvin
Fox, Todd
Hengst, Jeremy
Kester, Mark
Sharma, Arun
See all (17) people
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