Dr Dong Gui Hu

Dr Hu's research over the last 17 years has been focusing on deciphering molecular mechanisms controlling the expression and activity of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) in response to therapeutic drugs and signalling molecules such as sex steroid hormones. These studies discovered a series of transcriptional factors and microRNAs that control  UGT expression and function in drug-metabolically relevant organs (Liver) and sex hormone-sensitive cancers (Prostate and Breast cancer). These studies have been published in over 20 articles in prestigious international journals in the fields of Pharmacology and Cancers, including Molecular pharmacology, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Drug Metabolism and Disposition, Drug Metabolism Reviews, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, cancers, and Cancer Research.

Dr Hu's research on UGT genes also recently extends to define novel alternatively spliced UGT transcripts, including circular and chimeric transcripts that have been published in Molecular Pharmacology.

Dr Hu's research recently extends to cover ADME genes, a group of approximately 300 genes that are involved in drug Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion (ADME). ADME genes are also involved in clearing endogenous compounds (steroids, fatty acids, bile acids, lipids). Dr Hu's published bioinformatic analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets reported widespread deregulation of ADME genes in cancers and their association with cancer patient survival. These discoveries highlight the potentials for ADME genes as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers for human cancers.

Dr Hu's recent research also discovered novel androgen receptor splice variants (ARVs) and showed for the first time ARV expression in breast cancer.  These discoveries are clinically relevant given their potential role in mediating anti-androgen resistance in breast cancers treated with anti-antiandrogens.