Kyungsoon Chung, Ph.D.,
Professor
- Affiliations:
Department of Neuroscience & Cell Biology
- Route: 1069 2.102 Medical Research Building (MRB)
- Tel: (409) 772-2106
- Fax: (409) 772-4687
- kchung@utmb.edu
Kyungsoon Chung, Ph.D.
Education
• Bachelor of Science, Sogang University, 1969
• Doctor of Philosophy, Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine, 1978
• Post-Doctoral Training, University of Texas Medical Branch, 1978-1979
About the Lab
Pain is one of the most common reasons patients seek help from medical professionals. Due to a lack of clear understanding of the mechanisms of pain, especially persistent pain, treatment options are limited and results are unsatisfactory at the present time. Dr. Chung is interested in the mechanisms of persistent (or chronic) pain. In contrast to acute pain, in which noxious stimuli are detected by nociceptors and information is transmitted to the brain and sensed as pain, chronic pain is a state with maintained abnormalities in both the central nervous system and periphery. Her interest is, in particular, in the plasticity of the sensory and sympathetic nervous systems after nerve injury or tissue inflammation.
The studies in our laboratory include the changes in behavior, morphology, physiological properties, and gene expressions in primary afferent neurons and the spinal dorsal horn neurons after a peripheral nerve injury or nerve inflammation. We have shown that sensory neurons, both injured and adjacent intact, change gene expression for various factors, such as alpha adrenoceptors, purinoceptors, neuropeptide Y receptors, and sodium channels, and thus develop sensitivity to these neuromodulators. The most recent and exciting research project also includes the studies of the involvement of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) in chronic pain.
Selected Publications
Kim, C.H., Oh, Y.S., Chung, J.M. and Chung, K. The changes in expression of three subtypes of TTX sensitive sodium channels in sensory neurons after spinal nerve ligation. Mol. Brain Res., 95:153-161, 2001.
Chung, J.M. and Chung, K. Importance of hyperexcitability of DRG Neurons in Neuropathic Pain. Pain Practice, 2:87-97, 2002.
Baik, E., Chung, J.M. and Chung, K. Peripheral norepinephrine exacerbates neuritis-induced hyperalgesia. J. Pain 4:212-221, 2003.
Kim, H.K., Park, S.K., Zhou, J-L., Taglialatela, G., Chung, K., Coggeshall, R.E., and Chung, J.M. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Pain, 111:116-124, 2004.
Gao, X., Kim, H.K., Chung, J.M., and Chung, K. Enhancement of NMDA receptor phosphorylation of the spinal dorsal horn and nucleus gracilis neurons in neuropathic rats. Pain, 116(1-2):62-72, 2005.
Park, E-S, Gao, X., Chung, J.M., and Chung, K. Levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species increase in rat neuropathic spinal dorsal horn neurons. Neurosci. Lett., 391:108-111, 2006.
Gao, X., Kim, H.K., Chung, J.M. and Chung, K. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in enhancement of NMDA-receptor phosphorylation in animal models of pain. Pain, 131:262-271, 2007.