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Kye-Im Jeon, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Faculty Appointments

Biography

Research

Dr. Jeon has a long-standing interest in contractile cells. Earlier in her career, she investigated the differentiation and proliferation of smooth muscle cells, such as those that occur during pathological vascular remodeling in atherosclerosis and restenosis.

During the last few years, Dr. Jeon has turned her attention to corneal wound healing and, in particular, the differentiation from fibroblasts to myofibroblasts. At first, this work focused on ways of pharmacologically controlling this process, especially using PPARs ligands. These ligands are already clinically used for the treatment of diabetes and are known to regulate many important cellular functions, including metabolism, adipogenesis, proliferation and differentiation in a variety of body tissues. Relevant to the cornea, we found PPARs ligands capable of inhibiting myofibroblast differentiation in vivo and in vitro, identifying them as a potentially exciting, new class of topical ocular therapeutics.

While pursuing this project, Dr. Jeon's team also discovered that myofibroblast transformation – such as occurs in large corneal wounds - directly inhibits nerve regeneration in vivo and in vitro. Her current efforts are focused on understanding the interaction between myofibroblasts and neurons. Controlling corneal re-innervation after wounding has important implications for blinding conditions such as neurotrophic keratitis, where persistent corneal wounds occur.

Credentials

Education

1995
MS | Korea-Yonsei University
Biochemistry

2001
PhD | Korea-Catholic Med Coll, Seoul
Biochemistry

Patents

Patent Title: Method and Compositions for Treatment or Prevention of Inflammatory Conditions
Patent #: 1602247
Issue Date: Mar 11, 2015
Country: China, People's Republic of
Invented By: Bradford C Berk, Kye-Im Jeon, Jian-Dong Li, Xiangbin Xu, Chen Yan

Patent Title: Method and Compositions For Treatment or Prevention of Inflammatory Conditions
Patent #: 9,682,070
Issue Date: Jun 20, 2017
Country: United States
Invented By: Bradford C Berk, Kye-Im Jeon, Jian-Dong Li, Xiangbin Xu, Chen Yan

Patent Title: Method and Compositions For Treatment or Prevention of Inflammatory Conditions
Patent #: 9,241,932
Issue Date: Jan 26, 2016
Country: United States
Invented By: Bradford C Berk, Kye-Im Jeon, Jian-Dong Li, Xiangbin Xu, Chen Yan

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Publications

Journal Articles

4/1/2022
Jeon KI, Kumar A, Wozniak KT, Nehrke K, Huxlin KR. "Defining the Role of Mitochondrial Fission in Corneal Myofibroblast Differentiation." Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.. 2022 Apr 1; 63(4):2.

2020
Jeon KI, Huxlin KR. "How scars shape the neural landscape: Key molecular mediators of TGF-?1's anti-neuritogenic effects." PloS one.. 2020 15(11):e0234950. Epub 2020 Nov 24.

10/24/2019
Jeon KI, Nehrke K, Huxlin KR. "Semaphorin 3A potentiates the profibrotic effects of transforming growth factor-?1 in the cornea." Biochemical and biophysical research communications.. 2019 Oct 24; Epub 2019 Oct 24.

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