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Research Interests: Comparative Endocrinology of reptilian species.
Late effects of neonatal treatments on laboratory rodents.
Neuroimmunoendocrinology of cell death.
My research interests are mainly in the regulatory mechanisms involved in the processing of chemical signals in the body. This includes the regulation of hormone secretions, binding of hormones to specific receptors, signal transduction pathways and the initiation of immediate early genes expression.
On the problems on the control of hormone secretions, I have examined quite a number of erogenous and endogenous factors which affect the variability of hormone secretions in highly standardized holding rats. The understanding on this problem helps us to minimize the use of laboratory rats in studying experimental endocrinology, that is one of the special research area on how to minimize the use of laboratory animals in medical research works under the sponsorship of the German Research Council (DFG Sonder forschungs bereich 146).
On the studies on hormone receptors, putative receptors of thyroid hormone, growth hormone and prolactin in reptilian species are being studied in this laboratory.
On the studies on the signal transduction pathways, I am working on the effect of some neonatal treatments e.g. experimental hypothyroidism on the development of G-proteins and their isoforms in various brain areas in the rats. Further efforts will be made to examine not only various components of the transduction pathways, but also the changes of second and third messengers when abnormalities develop in the body.
On the neuroimmunoendocrinology of cell death, I am working on the cross-talk among the nervous, immune and endocrine systems during the sexual differentiation of the rat brain. In this study, I am trying to work out a hypothesis that can explain how these three systems work together to initiate the programmed neuronal death in the process of developing an unisexual brain.
Selected Publications:
* Wong, C.C., Doehler, K.D. & Muehlen, A. von zur (1980) Effects of tri-iodothyronine, thyroxine and isopropyl-diiodothyronine on thyroid stimulating hormone in serum and pituitary gland and on pituitary concentrations of prolactin, growth hormone, luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone in hypothyroid rats. J Endocr. 87: 255-263.
* Wong, C.C. & Chiu, K.W. (1987) Putative thyroid hormone receptors in red blood cells of some reptiles. Gen. Comp. Endocr. 66:434-440.
* Liu, W.K., Tsui, K.Y. & Wong, C.C. (1993) Repressed activity of peritoneal macrophages in methimazole induced hypothyroid mice. Virchow Arch. B: Cell PathoL 63: 131-136.
* Wong, C.C., Lam, K.Y. & Chiu, K.W. (1993) The extrathyroidal conversion of T4 to T3 in the striped racer snake, Elaphe taeniura. J Comp. Physiol. B: 163: 212-218.
* Wong, C.C., Warsh, J.J., Sibony, D. & Li, P.P. (1993) Differential ontogenetic appearance and regulation of stimulatory G protein isoforms in rat cerebral cortex by thyroid hormone deficiency. Submitted to Neurochem.
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