Joanne Wang

Accepting Students to Lab: Yes

Education

• BS in Biochemistry, Peking University
• MS in Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago
• PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Courses Taught

• PCEUT503
• PCEUT532
• PCEUT506

Research Interests

• Transporters (PMAT, OCTs, OATs and MATEs)
• Anticancer drugs and targeting
• Drug transport at the blood-CSF barrier
  in the CNS
• PMAT as a novel target for CNS disorders
• Transporter-mediated drug-drug interactions

Biography

Dr. Wang obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California, San Francisco. She joined the Department of Pharmaceutics as an Assistant Professor in 2000 and is currently a Professor in Pharmaceutics, an affiliate member of FHCRC, and a member of the Plein Center in Geriatrics.

Dr. Wang’s primary research interests are in the area of solute carrier (SLC) proteins that transport nutrients, neurotransmitters, hormones, drugs, and toxins across cell membranes. The central theme of Dr. Wang’s research has been focused on understanding the biology and pharmacology of SLC transporters and their clinical significance in drug disposition and action. Wang is particularly noted for her research on the plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT or ENT4, SLC29A4), a novel neurotransmitter and organic cation transporter first discovered, cloned and characterized in her laboratory. She also has longstanding research interests in cancer therapeutics, drug-induced organ toxicity, drug-drug interactions, and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Dr. Wang has served as a member of the XNDA study section and on numerous special emphasis panels for the National Institutes of Health as well as a reviewer for several other funding agencies. She has served on the drug metabolism executive committee of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) and is a member of the editorial advisory boards of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Metabolism and Disposition.

Selected Publications

• Identification and characterization of a novel monoamine transporter in the human brain. K. Engel, M. Zhou, and J. Wang*.J Biol Chem 279: 50042-9 (2004).
• Evidence for significant contribution of a newly identified monoamine transporter (PMAT) to serotonin uptake in the human brain. M. Zhou,K. Engel and J. Wang*.Biochem Pharmacol. 73(1):147-54 (2007).
• Metformin transport by a newly cloned proton-stimulated organic cation transporter (PMAT) expressed in human intestine. M. Zhou, L. Xia and J. Wang*. Drug Metab Dispos. 35(10):1956-62 (2007).
• Expression profiling of the Solute Carrier (SLC) gene family in the mouse brain.A. Dahlin, J. Royall, J. Hohmann and J. Wang*. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 329(2):558-70 (2009).
• Selective transport of monoamine neurotransmitters by human plasma membrane monoamine transporter and organic cation transporter 3.H. Duan and J. Wang*.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 335(3):743-53. (2010)
• Impaired monoamine and organic cation uptake in choroid plexus in mice with targeted disruption of the plasma membrane monoamine transporter (slc29a4) gene. H. Duan and J. Wang* J Biol Chem. 288(5):3535-44 (2013).
• Taste of a pill: organic cation transporter 3 mediates drug accumulation and secretion in salivary glands. N. Lee, H. Duan, M.F. Hebert, C.J. Liang, K.M. Rice, and J. Wang*. J Biol Chem.289(39):27055-64 (2014).
• Impact of substrate-dependent inhibition on predicting transporter-mediated renal drug interaction and accumulation. J. Yin, H. Duan and J Wang*. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 359(3):401-410 (2016)
• Serotonin transporter deficiency drives estrogen-dependent obesity and glucose intolerance. W. Zha, H.T.B. Ho, T. Hu, M.F. Hebert,and J. Wang*. Sci Rep 7(1):1137 (2017).
• Organic cation transporter 3 facilitates fetal exposure to metformin during pregnancy. N Lee, MF Hebert, DJ Wagner, TR Easterling, J Liang, K Rice, and J Wang*. Mol Pharmacol. 94(4):1125-1131 (2018).