Research Interests
Preclinical study of natural products regulating programmed cell death
We mainly focuses on the preclinical development of naturals products that regulate programmed cell death (PCD). By using integrated platforms, we have identified naturals products with distinct mechanisms of action to induced PCD. We demonstrate that 2-methoxy-6-acetyl-7-methyljuglone (MAM), a type of quinone, induce cell-type dependent PCD dependent on ROS, caspase, RIPK1, or NQO1. We report for the first time that the form of PCD induced by MAM is distinct to any other types of PCD reported, and highly dependent on NQO1-mediated ROS production. We term this novel type of PCD as noptosis. We are still working on the underlying mechanisms and signaling that lead to noptosis. The therapetutic potential of noptosis is also being explored.
Development of epithelial-mesenchymal transition inhibitors
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is of pivotal importance in controlling tumor metastasis and organ fibrosis. By using the tumor growth factor β1-stimulated EMT model, we have identified a number of natural products as potent EMT inhibitors. Further study is on going to evaluate the therapeutic potential of these candidate EMT inhibitors on in vivo metasis and organ fibrosis models.Postgraduate students and masters who wish to participate in our research projects on pharmacology and drug discovery are all welcomed.