About the Authors

Fang Yuan

Affiliation Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Dana E. Tabor

Affiliation Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Richard K. Nelson

Affiliation Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Hongjiang Yuan

Affiliation Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Yijia Zhang

Affiliation Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Jenny Nuxoll

Affiliation Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Kimberly K. Bynoté

Affiliation Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Subodh M. Lele

Affiliation Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Dong Wang

* Email: dwang@unmc.edu (DW); kagould@unmc.edu (KAG)

Affiliation Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Karen A. Gould

* Email: dwang@unmc.edu (DW); kagould@unmc.edu (KAG)

Affiliation Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: Dong Wang is an inventor of a PCT patent application (WO 2005/097073), which discloses the dexamethasone prodrug development. No other coauthor declares any competing interest. The authors confirm that this potential competing interest does not alter their adherence to the PLOS ONE policies on the sharing of data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: FY DW KAG. Performed the experiments: FY DET RKN HY YZ JN KKB KAG. Analyzed the data: FY DET RKN HY YZ KKB SML DW KAG. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DW KAG. Wrote the manuscript: FY DET RKN DW KAG.