Jeong lab:Projects

Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics

Home        Research        Publications        Lab Members        Positions        Internal       

Role of gut microbiota in drug elimination and toxicity Intestines harbor a large number of bacteria that have an enormous capacity to catalyze chemical reactions. Jeong lab's most recent interests are in studying the roles of gut microbiota in determining drug efficacy and toxicity as a (1) drug-metabolizing organ and (2) modulator of host response to drugs (funded by Chicago Biomedical Consortium). Cho S, Won K-J, Yang X, Leone V, Hubert N, Chang EB, Chung E, Park J-S, Lee H, Jeong H. Phenylpropionic acid produced by gut microbiota alleviates acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. bioRxiv [1]. Guo Y, Crnkovic CM, Won K-J, Yang X, Lee JR, Orjala J, Lee H, Jeong H. Commensal gut bacteria convert the immunosuppressant tacrolimus to less potent metabolites. Drug Metab Disp. 2019;47(3):194-202 [2] Altered drug metabolism during pregnancy Medication use in pregnancy is prevalent due to pre-existing medical conditions or newly developing disorders. This unavoidable drug treatment requires accurate pharmacokinetic information because under- or over-exposure may result in detrimental clinical outcomes not only to the mother, but also to the fetus. Limited clinical evidence suggests that pharmacokinetic profiles of drugs are altered during pregnancy. Specifically, metabolic pathway-dependent changes have been reported for hepatic drug metabolism during pregnancy. Jeong lab is interested in identifying factors responsible for altered drug metabolism and elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms (funded by NICHD R01). Koh KH, Pan X, Shen H, Arnold SLM, Yu A, Gonzalez FJ, Isoherranen N, Jeong H. Altered expression of small heterodimer partner governs cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 induction during pregnancy in CYP2D6-humanized mice. J Biol Chem. 2014;289(6):3105-13 [3] Koh KH, Jurkovic S, Yang K, Choi S, Jung JW, Kim KP, Zhang W, Jeong H. Estradiol induces cytochrome P450 2B6 expression at high concentrations: Implication in estrogen-mediated gene regulation in pregnancy. Biochem Pharmacol. 2012;84(1):93-103 [4] Personalized medicine for CYP2D6 substrates CYP2D6 is a major drug-metabolizing enzyme, responsible for metabolizing ~20% of marketed drugs. CYP2D6-mediated drug metabolism exhibits very large inter-individual variability. While this can be explained in part by genetic polymorphisms of CYP2D6 gene, large portion of the variability remains unexplained. Jeong lab has been trying to better understand transcriptional regulation of CYP2D6. Based on accumulating data, we are in the process of identifying novel factors leading to CYP2D6 variability (in healthy human liver tissues) and elucidating the molecular mechanisms (funded by NIGMS R01). Pan X, Jeong H. Estrogen-induced cholestasis leads to repressed CYP2D6 expression in CYP2D6-humanized mice. Mol Pharmacol. 2015;88(1):106-12 [5] "Druggability" of drug candidates Preclinical characterization of pharmacokinetics of a drug candidate is essential in drug development processes. Jeong lab provides our expertise in preclinical pharmacokinetics for development of antiviral and antibiotic agents (funded by NIAID R37, PI: Arun Ghosh at Purdue University). Zhang Y, Liu Y, Mehboob S, Song J, Boci T, Johnson ME, Ghosh AK, Jeong H. Metabolism-directed structure optimization of benzimidazole-based Francisella tularensis enoyl-reductase (FabI) inhibitors. Xenobiotica. 2014;44(5):404-16 [6]