The Yang Research Group - Members

Tien-Yi Lee
     Ph.D. Candidate

     Email: leetyATumich.edu
     Phone: (734) 647-9708

    B. Pharm. and B.S. Zoology, National Taiwan Univerisity, 2002

Research Activities:

Topic Area: Red Blood Cells as Drug Carriers

Red Blood Cell Encapsulated Cocaine Esterase as a Novel Treatment Modality for Cocaine Intoxication

At present there are no proven effective medications for cocaine overdose, which can be lethal. Cocaine esterase is the most efficient cocaine-hydrolyzing enzyme identified so far. Although it has the potential to serve as the first treatment for cocaine intoxication, its short plasma half-life, susceptibility to proteolysis and immune surveillance would become major obstacles for successful application in humans.

The propose of my project is to approach these problems by encapsulating cocaine esterase into red blood cells, which have been exploited extensively as drug carriers due to their complete biocompatibility and long life-spam. Low molecular weight protamine (LMWP) is utilized as a potent cell penetrating peptide to mediate cocaine esterase internalization into red blood cells. By increasing the enzyme’s in vivo half-life and decreasing immunogenicity, hopefully cocaine esterase in this formulation can be the first useful treatment of reversing cocaine toxic and behavioral effects.

Recent Honors:

Schering-Plough Graduate fellowship (2004-2005)

Publications:

Chern J-H. , Tai C-L., Lin Y-T., Lee C-C., Lee Y-C., Shen C-W., Chen C-P., Li W-T., Chen W-C., Luo W-C., Lee T-Y., Chen C-T., and Chien D-S. Design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel imidazolidinone analogues as anti-EV 71 agents. 2003 Proceedings of Reserve Duty System for Science and Technology.

Presentations:

Lee, T-Y., W-C. Chen, and D-S. Chien. In Vitro Hepatic Metabolism of Helioxanthin. Pharmaceutical Society of Taiwan Annual Meeting and Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan (2003)

Lee, T-Y. and D-S. Chien. In Vitro Metabolism of Helioxanthin and Its Inhibition on Cytochrome P450. 12th North American ISSX Meeting, Providence, Rhode Island (2003)

Brief Biography:

Before came to the States for her Ph. D degree in 2004, Tien-Yi was a 20-year resident in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan with the population of 2.7 million. Besides her career in pharmaceutical and biological sciences, the rest of the list for her interest is music (especially indie-rocks, British 80's, and jazz), Sci-Fi movies, cooking, and Japanese anime. She also loves pets and has a 2-year-old Holland lop. One day she will have an awesome soundproof room for her home theater system and guitar practicing.